JACOB5 SONS 



GEORGE L. PETRIE 




.^.' 



Class ^'S^ 
Book__Sl-i&. 
Copyright )J^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



JACOB'S SONS 



JACOB'S SONS 



BY 

GEORGE L. PETRIE, D. D. 




New York and Washington 

THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1910 






Copyright, 1910, By 
THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY 



ICI.A273470 



I 






INTRODUCTION 

The forty-ninth chapter of Genesis is very pic- 
turesque. It has preserved for ages a group of 
family portraits. Jacob wais the artist ; his sons 
the subjects of his art. The patriarch, when about 
to die, assembled his twelve sons and spoke parting 
words to them. These words are pictures of the 
men. They have been called Jacob's Blessings on 
his Sons. The father, with a present discernment 
and a far-reaching vision, portrayed their characters 
and prophesied their destinies. To the patriarch 
each son presented striking peculiarities. Jacob 
assigned to each an appropriate symbol, a mirror of 
his life, showing what he was and what he was to 
be, reflecting character and destiny. These por- 
traits, prophecies, symbols, have a tribal as well as 
a personal reference. They afford glimpses of the 
men and of their tribes. 

This book is an interpretation of the patriarchal 
scene. The purpose of these studies is to note the 
correspondence between these portraits and the men 
and tribes they represent; to find the agreements 
between the forward reach of the patriarch's words 
and the recorded facts of Israel's subsequent his- 



6 INTRODUCTION 

tory ; to trace the symbol in the Hfe of each son and 
of his tribe. 

The views presented in the following pages were 
originally given in a course of Sunday Evening 
Biblical Lectures. The form of public address has 
been preserved. 

George L. Petrie. 

Charlottesville, Virginia. 
June 9, 1910. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

Jacob's Blessings on His Sons . . 7 

I. Jacob: Patriarch, Poet_, Prophet . . 11 

II. Reuben 20 

III. Simeon • • 33 

IV. Levi 48 

V. JUDAH 63 

VI. Zebulun "jy 

VII. ISSACHAR 91 

VIII. Dan 106 

IX. Gad . 121 

X. ASHER 138 

XI. Naphtali 153 

XII. Joseph the Favorite Son .... 166 

XIII. Ephraim, the Jealous Tribe . . ., 182 

XIV. Manasseh 198 

XV. Benjamin' 214 



JACOB'S BLESSINGS ON HIS SONS 

Genesis 49: i — 28. 

"And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather your- 
selves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall 
you in the last days. 

Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; 
and hearken unto Israel your father. 

Reuben, thou art my firstborn, 
My might, and the beginning of my strength. 
The excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: 
Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; 
Because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; 
Then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch. 

Simeon and Levi are brethren; 
Instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. 

my soul, come not thou into their secret; 

Unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united: 

For in their anger they slew a man, 

And in their selfwill they digged down a wall. 

Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; 

And their wrath,, for it was cruel: 

1 will divide them in Jacob, 
And scatter them in Israel. 

Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: 
Thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; 
Thy father's children shall bow down before thee. 
Judah is a lion's whelp: 
From the prey, my son, thou art gone up : 
He stooped down, he couched as a lion. 
And as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? 
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, 



8 JACOB'S SONS 

Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, 

Until Shiloh come ; 

And unto him shall the gathering of the people be. 

Binding his foal unto the vine, 

And his ass's colt unto the choice vine; 

He washed his garments in wine, 

And his clothes in the blood of grapes : 

His eyes shall be red with wine, 

And his teeth white with milk. 

Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; 
And he shall be for a haven of ships; 
And his border shall be unto Zidon. 

Issachar is a strong ass 
Couching down between two burdens: 
And he saw that rest was good. 
And the land that it was pleasant; 
And bowed his shoulders to bear, 
And became a servant unto tribute. 

Dan shall judge his people. 
As one of the tribes of Israel. 
Dan shall be a serpent by the way. 
An adder in the path, 
That biteth the horse heels, 
So that his rider shall fall backward. 
I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord. 

Gad, a troop shall overcome him: 
But he shall overcome at the last. 

Out of Asher his bread shall be fat. 
And he shall yield royal dainties. 

Naphtali is a hind let loose: 
He giveth goodly words. 

Joseph is a fruitful bough, 
Even a fruitful bough by a well; 
Whose branches run over the wall : 
The archers have sorely grieved him, 
And shot at him, and hated him: 
But his bow abode in strength, 
And the arms of his hands were made strong 



JACOB'S SONS ' 9 

By the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; 

From thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel: 

Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; 

And by the Almighty, who shall bless thee 

With blessings of heaven above, 

Blessings of the deep that lieth under. 

Blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: 

The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings 

of my progenitors 
Unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: 
They shall be on the head of Joseph, 

And on the crown of the head of him that was separate 
from his brethren. 

Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: 
In the morning he shdl devour the prey, 
And at night he shall divide the spoil. 

All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it 
that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every 
one according to his blessing he blessed them." 



JACOB'S SONS 



JACOB: PATRIARCH, POET, PROPHET 

" And Jacob called unto his sons and said, Gather your- 
selves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall 
you in the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hear, 
ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father." — 
Gen. 49: 1-2. 

The Book of Genesis is unique. It is the oldest 
book in existence. It is brief, but includes in its 
record a multitude of years. It represents more 
than one-third of human history. Its record covers 
about twenty-three hundred years. All subsequent 
history embraces about thirty-six hundred years. 

Genesis is a gallery of pictures. On its pages 
men and nations in rapid succession pass before us 
in review. Its gathered scenes are selections from 
the rich materials which the world affords. Be- 
tween its scenes sometimes ages roll. Of these in- 
tervals often there is no mention made. It is the 
ancient world's Westminster Abbey, where emi- 
nence only is entombed. Among all the famous 
groups that are pictured in this gallery of ancient 
art one of the most noted is that to which now we 

II 



12 JACOB'S SONS 

turn : Jacob, the dying patriarch, and his assembled 
sons. We purpose to study this picture in detail, 
so we shall come somewhat tO' know the men and 
learn the lessons which the artistic grouping of 
them is designed to teach. Jacob the dying father 
is the central figure of the picture. The first sub- 
ject that invites our attention, therefore, is Jacob, 
the patriarch, poet, and prophet. 

I. JACOB THE PATRIARCH 

The scene on which we look, with the incident 
which it records, marks the close of what is called 
the patriarchal period of human history. Here the 
family with its paternal rule merges into the 
national existence and government. In this sense 
Jacob is the last of the patriarchs. Abraham is 
succeeded by Isaac, to whom the patriarchal treas- 
ures go. Isaac is succeeded by Jacob, on whom 
the patriarchal blessings fall. But Jacob, dying, 
gathers around him all his sons, bestows his bless- 
ing on them all, and through them on the tribes 
which they represent. Jacob is succeeded by the 
Tribes of Israel, to which the sons of the last 
patriarch give their names and characters. The 
transition thus introduced renders this scene im- 
portant. It marks an epoch in the roll of ages. 

Jacob is sick. He calls his sons to him. About 
to pass away, the father would pronounce a bless- 



JACOB'S SONS 13 

ing* on his sons. They gather at his bedside. 
Only men are present. The women who have often 
graced the patriarchal scenes are not mentioned in 
the record. Leah and Rachel have already died; 
and Dinah is not mentioned here. In times of sor- 
row, sickness, suffering, death, the tender ministries 
of women are oftenest found and most highly 
valued. They are wanting here. It is a gather- 
ing of men. We see only the father and his 
sons. 

Unlike Abraham and Isaac, Jacob is the head of 
a large family of sons. Among them great 
peculiarities of character are found. Their tem- 
peraments varied. Not more unlike were Jacob 
and Esau than were these sons of Israel. Hence, 
the family life was not always peaceful, its history 
by no means always smooth. Antagonistic traits 
sometimes created storms. Turbulence sometimes 
reigned. The calm of human life was sometimes 
rufifled by tumultuous scenes. It was a checkered 
life they lived. Dissensions often marred their 
happiness and produced sad separations. 

But now they have come together once more. 
It is with them the great event that always brings 
the family together, when possible, though they are 
scattered far; that calms the storm, however it may 
have raged; that hushes complaint, however loudly 
spoken; that reconciles the disaffected, however 
wide the breach. Death is drawing near. All 



14 JACOB'S SONS 

gather as brothers, because as sons they assemble 
at the dying patriarch's side. 

Jacob knows his sons as no other knows them. 
He has watched them with a father's discerning 
eye. Abundant opportunities his have been to learn 
them well. Jacob is a most discerning man. 
Through all the years, in all the varying scenes, by 
all the changing lights, amid all the many strange 
events, he has read their lives. His heart has treas- 
ured many things all others have forgot. Out of 
these treasured facts, gathered by observation, pro- 
foundly considered in lonely hours, in his own mind 
he has sketched the character of each son. Now all 
that they have been, are, and are likely to become 
stands out in bold relief as a living scene to the 
patriarch's mind. Blind though he has come to be, 
the eye of the mind with undimmed vision beholds 
each son. As they stand around him, he more 
clearly sees them with this better vision than they 
behold their dying father. 

No two men are ever quite alike. But were ever 
men more divergent in their characters than these 
sons of Jacob? Family resemblances there usually 
are. But amid resemblances individualities also 
will appear. Now let us hear the father state what 
are the personal peculiarities of these men, his 
sons. 

The dying hour is an honest hour. Jacob 
gathers his sons around him, not to speak flattering 



JACOB'S SONS 15 

words, not to deal in generalities which cannot 
profit them; but to speak to them helpful words, 
worthy to be treasured as a father's last counsel. 
It is his last opportunity, and he surely makes wise 
use of it. No nobler tribute can be paid to Jacob 
than is contained in the record of his farewell coun- 
sel to his sons. He has finely pictured the men. 
With the strokes of a master he has portrayed each 
son, and made him stand before us in perpetual life. 
Some of the old painters so excelled in their noble 
art that as we look on the pictures they portrayed 
we are almost convinced that we can move among 
the persons depicted, and pass around them, in such 
bold relief they seem to stand. At Jacob's touch, 
by his vivid sketch, these princes of the tribes stand 
out to our view almost as living men. We almost 
forget that we are looking on a picture touched 
rudely by the hand of time and darkened by the 
dimming distance that intervenes. 

The dying hour is a loving hour. It is the hour 
when the paternal heart wells up with tenderest 
love. Gather the sons, for the patriarch is dying. 
He would breathe his love upon them ere he de- 
parts. He wishes to have them near. His heart is 
breaking with the love he bears his children now. 
Jacob's words are called his Blessings on his sons. 
At first thought some of them seem scarcely named 
aright. But this may be noticed — that Jacob give^ 
to each all that he is fitted to receive. Whatever 



i6 JACOB'S SONS 

limitation there is, is in the son, not in the father: 
a limit of capacity to receive, not of kindness to be- 
stow. The character of each regulates the blessing 
beyond Jacob's power to change. The characters 
men make are the exact measurements of the bless- 
ings the men can receive. 

These words of Jacob are words of revelation. 
In no event of his life does his mental vigor appear 
to greater advantage than in these discriminating 
blessings on his sons. They doubtless knew them- 
selves better, knew one another better, as they are 
better known to us, by reason of these character 
sketches which the dying patriarch gave. 

II. ^JACOB THE POET 

This patriarchal benediction is a poem. All that 
constitutes Hebrew poetry has here a place. What 
is poetry ? This is a question which has not lacked 
discussion. It is a question which has not been an- 
swered to general satisfaction yet. All are well 
agreed that poetry does not consist in rhyme, else 
every man might be a poet. Nor yet does it con- 
sist in measure, else it were but a mathematical at- 
tainment. Neither rhyme nor measure is a feature 
of Hebrew poetry. We may recognize poetry and 
feel its power and admire its beauty, though it be 
still by us undefined. Except Lamech's " Song of 
the Swprd/' a mere fragment, the most ancient 



JACOB'S SONS 17 

poem known is Jacob's Blessings on his sons. A 
thousand years before Homer sang his IHad, that 
splendid wail of woes, Jacob breathed this Song 
of Blessings on his sons. The blind bard of Israel 
was ancient by a millennium when the blind old man 
of Greece wove his wondrous stories into the songs 
that ever since have charmed the world. 

The bird of Orpheus, it is said, meets death with 
song. As death draws near it tunes its voice to a 
sweeter, happier note. It dies to its own sweet 
music. There is many a swanlike song of human 
voice, at whose conclusion the singer takes his final 
flight. In Jacob's song he bids the world adieu. 
This noble singer with the last cadence of his voice 
goes, but leaves his other self, the noble song, to 
linger down the ages to delight the world while 
music has its charms. 

To this poem of the patriarch belong what are 
better far than measure, rhyme, or rhythm — noble 
thought, elevated style, beautiful imagery, artistic 
arrangement. To each son a symbol is assigned, 
which is at once expressive of his character and 
prophetic of his destiny. Each symbol also sets 
forth a tribal character and destiny. 



III. JACOB THE PROPHET 

A prophet Jacob claims to be : " That I may tell 
you that which shall befall you in the last days." 



i8 JACOB'S SONS 

This poem, then, is offered to us as a prophetic 
glimpse of the coming days. But here certain 
critics come with their work of demolition; who 
would bring every high thing down, and pluck 
crowns from the brows that long have worn them 
well. It is their chief delight to deny. When men 
are found who would uncrown England's greatest 
bard, we need not be surprised that there are those 
who now deny that Jacob ever breathed this little 
song or uttered these brief prophecies. Well, why ? 
Is it because these words have proved themselves so 
true and have been so remarkably fulfilled? Had 
the song proved false, false to the coming days, 
false to their prophetic claim, would any voice ever 
have been raised to deny that Jacob sang this little 
song to his assembled sons? With great delight 
such iconoclasts most likely would have spared no 
pains to bind the false prophecy forever to the 
patriarch's name. 

Shall we believe that at some later day this poem 
was foisted on Israel's literature, claiming its 
ancient authorship and date? This would have 
been a difficult achievement if all its words were 
praise; but it seems impossible when the poem 
reflects unfavorably on certain tribes. These tribes 
surely would have detected the design in its incep- 
tion, and proclaimed the imposture to the world. 
It seems easier far to accept the facts and face any 
difficulties they may suggest than to invent new 



JACOB'S SONS 19 

theories which introduce greater difficulties than 
those from which we try to make escape. 

The death-hour somehow seems to rend the veil 
that shuts off our vision of better things and com- 
ing days. There are prophets who are prophets all 
their days. There are prophets who, like Jacob, see 
afar as the flickering spark flares up ere into deeper 
darkness it goes forever out. Certain pagan sages 
of the olden time declared that in approaching death 
man drew near the state in which he has most 
the foreseeing power, and that the soul catches 
some glimpse of the future just as it is departing 
from the body. The true poet is a prophet. In his 
loftier soaring he sees farther and more clearly than 
they who walk earth's lowly plains. 

As the patriarch dies, each word he speaks, 
luminous with clearer vision, larger view, nobler 
height, and keener discernment, is an open window 
through which the light of heaven shines on this 
darkened world. In the gleam of this heavenly 
light we may catch glimpses of the coming days. 



II 

REUBEN 

" Reuben, thou art my firstborn, 
My might, and the beginning of my strength, 
The excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power : 
Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; 
Because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; 
Then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch." 

—Gen. 49: 3-4. 

There are three great roll-calls of the tribes of 
Israel. They are full of significance in themselves 
and in the circumstances of the calls. The first 
is by the dying Jacob, into whose presence his sons 
come as individuals, from whom they go forth as 
the heads of tribes. The second is by the dying 
Moses, before whom the tribes pass in review. The 
third is by the dying chimes of Revelation, where 
the great consummation is recorded. The first is 
prophecy; the second history; the third judgment. 
Surely by the aid of these three reckonings we may 
with some fullness trace the men whose course is 
thus marked out. The prophecy, the history, the 
sealing recorded for us : how do these three agree ? 
There are no more specific prophecies in the Bible 

20 



JACOB'S SONS 21 

than these which are contained in the Tribal Bless- 
ings. The facts of Israers history are not wanting. 
It becomes therefore a very interesting inquiry, 
how far the history fulfills the prophecy. This 
surely is a subject which invites investigation. It 
is quite surprising to find that it is comparatively 
an untrodden field. At most it has been but 
touched — touched lightly. No extensive work 
seems to have been devoted to the elucidation of 
this subject. In the threefold light already sug- 
gested we purpose to have these tribes of Israel pass 
before us in review. Each tribal name is sugges- 
tive of the personal character and fortune of the 
son of Jacob who bears it, and of the history, char- 
acter, and circumstances of the tribes descended 
from him. Reuben, first named by Jacob in his 
blessings, claims our attention first. 



I.- 

In his blessings the patriarch introduces a symbol 
to represent each of his sons and his tribe. It is 
rather an Egyptian method of conveying thoughts 
by hieroglyphics. Pictures to the eye these are 
that represent the patriarch's thought — family por- 
traits true to life, a coat-of-arms emblazoned on the 
escutcheon of the tribe. What is Reuben's symbol 
or coat-of-arms? ** Unstable as water." Water is 
his symbol. But in what form? There is the 



22 JACOB'S SONS 

majesty of the sea, the serenity of the great river, 
the beauty of the crystal fountain, the impetuosity 
of the mountain cascade, the softness of the April 
shower, the gentle beauty of the dew. Which is 
it? How shall Reuben embody the thought, clothe 
it with form, and engrave it on his standard? 
Looking into the meaning of the Hebrew word here 
used, we find the phrase " Unstable as water '* 
signifies " boiling up like water in a vessel,'' or, yet 
more exactly, "boiling over." A vessel of water 
over the wood fire of the pilgrim's camp, a fire 
quickly kindled; while the fuel is supplied, the ves- 
sel sputters and steams and boils over. When the 
embers die out the bluster is gone, and apathy en- 
sues. The meaning of the symbol as given by the 
patriarch is " Thou shalt not excel." The boiling 
of the water depends on the fuel and the fire and 
the feeder of both. It has no power of its own. 
Reuben is pronounced incapable of excellence be- 
cause he has not inherently its elements in his soul. 
Now let us see how the history of Reuben and his 
tribe corresponds with this. 

II. — REUBEN THE MAN 

There is that about Jacob's language that sug- 
gests a prospect for this son originally bright and 
glorious. Hear his words : " Reuben, thou art my 
firstborn, my might, the beginning of my strength. 



JACOB'S SONS 23 

the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of 
power." The blessing which he seems to have in- 
herited and somewhat possessed was excellence. 
He excelled. It was his right, and in some degree 
at first his portion. The word " excellence " and 
the thought otherwise expressed — how these ring 
through the blessing which Jacob speaks! What 
was Reuben's excellence? 

First. — There is to Reuben the excellence of 
primogeniture. He is the firstborn of many breth- 
ren. At birth he is called Reuben : ** Behold a 
son!" The name by its meaning tells of the joy 
with which his birthright is recognized. The 
birthright embraced three blessings — property, 
power, priesthood. The largest portion of patri- 
archal wealth descended to the eldest son. The 
right of authority and rule belonged to the eldest 
son. The sacred function of priestly office de- 
scended in the line of the firstborn. All these 
peculiar privileges belong to Reuben. 

Second. — Other excellences also pertained to him. 
Several incidents in Reuben's life put him in a very 
favorable light. 

Reuben interposed by stratagem to save Joseph's 
life. His plan was but partially successful, yet 
sufficiently so to rescue Jacob's favorite son from 
a dreadful and bloody death. Jacob's home was at 
Hebron, where the patriarch tarried, while most of 
his sons were grazing their numerous flocks on the 



24 JACOB'S SONS 

fertile hills of Shechem and amid its lovely vales. 
Joseph acted as the messenger boy to convey tid- 
ings from the father to his sons, and back again. 
Such a mission he now performs. Alone he sets 
out from his home, climbs the mountains, fords 
the streams, crosses the gorges, treads the valleys, 
and hies on his way. He wears the beautiful coat 
of many colors which his father in his peculiar 
fancy gave. The distance is great, the country 
wild, but with brave heart he traverses it, obedient 
to his father's word. Conquering the distance and 
the dangers, he comes in sight of his brethren, soon, 
as he may well hope, to be greeted by them as a 
welcomed messenger from home. But the only 
salutation he receives is in the voice of envy and 
with bitter words. " Behold, this dreamer cometh. 
Come now, let us slay him, and cast him into some 
pit. Then we shall see what will become of his 
dreams." 

These were not Reuben's words. But he heard 
them. They sank like lead down into his heart. 
He said: "Let us not kill him. Shed no blood. 
Cast him into this pit in the wilderness, and lay no 
hand on him." This he said in order that he might 
deliver him out of their hands and return him to 
his father. He preferred to give him his liberty at 
once. Why should he wish to see a brother placed 
in bonds? But this he was unable to effect. As a 
compromise and a piece of strategy he proposed to 



JACOB'S SONS 25 

put Joseph in the pit, designing himself to come 
secretly and take him out. Unsuspicious of his de- 
sign, they consent. They lower Joseph into the pit, 
Reuben helping, but with heart rending. How little 
did Joseph know the loving purpose of his eldest 
brother ! 

The company of brethren now breaks up. All 
sit down to eat bread, unmindful of Joseph's tears, 
except Reuben only. Reuben moves off, perhaps to 
weep, doubtless to get aloof from all the rest. He 
has a purpose in wishing to be alone. While he 
is absent a company of Midianitish merchantmen 
come along on their way to Egypt. The heart- 
less brethren quickly drive a trade with them, and 
sell the weeping lad for twenty pieces of silver. 
Joseph goes a slave to Egypt. After a while, as 
soon as a convenient opportunity occurs, Reuben 
hastens to the pit to lift Joseph out and send him 
home. To his amazement, chagrin, and sorrow the 
lad is gone. He rends his clothes, and, finding the 
others, says : " The child is not ; and I, whither 
shall I go? " That was a kind and loving heart, a 
tender spirit, and a sensitive conscience. 

Surely thus far we do not find Reuben altogether 
bad. There is in him here a noteworthy trace of 
true nobility. Our hearts are more drawn to him 
than to the others who planned a brother's death; 
then, thwarted in that, sold him a slave to strangers 
destined to a distant land. 



26 JACOB'S SONS 

There Is another incident in Reuben's life that 
presents him in a favorable light — his responsibility 
for Benjamin. It is remarkable that his promi- 
nence is in connection with Jacob's favorite twO' 
sons. We have noticed his partially successful in- 
terposition on behalf of Joseph. We now notice 
his memorable connection with Benjamin. Long 
and weary years have passed since Joseph's coat, 
dripping with blood, was brought to Hebron and 
the falsehood stated, " A wild beast hath devoured 
him." Jacob has grown visibly older through all 
these years. More than years have bowed him and 
carved on his features the lineaments of care. 
Trouble has oppressed his heart. Joseph is not. 
Aye, and other troubles come. Troubles come thick 
about him. Rachel is dead. Joseph is not. The 
brightest lights of the patriarch's home have gone 
out. Peace is somewhat wanting in the home. Now 
famine comes with its oppression on the land. 

Plenty still reigns in Egypt, so the rumor goes. 
Ten brothers harness up their beasts of burden, and 
go down to Egypt to purchase corn. It is expressly 
stated that Benjamin did not go. Twenty-three 
years have passed since the parting at the pit. Now 
the ten brothers stand before Joseph. He knows 
them. They know him not. To try them, Joseph 
says: " Ye are spies." They answer: " We are true 
men. Thy servants are no spies. Thy servants are 
twelve brethren, sons of one man. The youngest 



JACOB'S SONS 2y 

is this day with our father at home ; and one is not." 
Unfortunate speech. "Twelve of you? One at 
home? The youngest there? Now I shall test your 
truthfulness. Go, bring him here. I shall keep one 
of you as a pledge. Let the others go back and carry 
corn to their father, and come again bringing the 
youngest with them." Hear now the voice of con- 
science speaking aloud : " We are guilty concerning 
our brother." Sins come back home. Arrows shot 
upward fall down again. Simeon is bound in 
prison. Nine troubled men turn their faces home- 
ward. On their way back they find their money 
replaced in their sacks of corn. This troubled them 
the more. Their old sin is tracking them hard. 

They tell their story to Jacob. " Now," say they, 
'Met us have Benjamin." "No," says Jacob; 
" Joseph is not ; Simeon is not ; and ye will take Ben- 
jamin away." No wonder the patriarch says, " My 
son shall not go down with you." Of what value to 
him is corn purchased at the price of sons ? Of what 
value is life itself at such a cost? Now is Reuben's 
time again. To the front steps again the eldest son. 
" Father," says he, " let Benjamin go. Simeon is 
waiting and wasting in a prison cell. He will not 
be released till Benjamin appears." Jacob: "Why 
dealt ye so with me as to tell him that I had yet 
another son ? " " He inquired strictly of us. I will 
be surety for Benjamin. Slay my two sons if I 
bring him not to thee. Deliver him to my hand, 



28 JACOB'S SONS 

and I will bring him to thee again." It was prom- 
ising a great deal, more than Reuben might be able 
to fuljfill. It was absurd to think of slaying Reu- 
ben's sons if the father should fail to bring Benja- 
min again. But the language shows Reuben's char- 
acter in its true light. The traits thus far developed, 
to say the least, are not unfavorable. They give 
promise of a bright, useful, honorable life. But 
the one great sin which mars Reuben's life and over- 
clouds his career, converts his father's blessing into 
a curse, and taints his posterity, robs him of^ all 
excellence and dooms his shadowed race. 



III. THE REUBENITES 

" Thou shalt not excel." Reuben loses by his sin 
the three excellences of his birthright — property, 
power, priesthood. The excellency of property goes 
to Joseph. Joseph, through his two sons- Ephraim 
and Manasseh, gets a double portion in the inherit- 
ance of the land of Canaan. Reuben does not even 
go within the original boundaries of the promised 
land. What he came to possess he early lost, being 
among the earliest carried captive to a foreign land. 
Reuben settled east of the Jordan. The excellency 
of power passes over to Judah. " Judah prevailed 
over his brethren, and from him came the chief 
ruler." The excellency of priesthood goes to Levi, 
whose tribe at Sinai's base was chosen to perform 



JACOB'S SONS 29 

the priestly function in the Lord's house and among 
his brethren. Reuben seems to have lost all the 
authority over his brethren which his birthright en- 
titled him to exercise: *'When he spake to them, 
they would not hear." Like a withering blast on 
the fairest prospect falls the patriarch's sentence on 
his eldest son : " Thou shalt not excel." 

Long indeed is the list of heroes of which Israel 
may boast — men of brave hearts, strong arms ; men 
of mighty valor; heroes who have written their 
names high in the records of fame. Search through 
tfiem all, scrutinize their records, inquire of all the 
faithful chroniclers, — among them all not one val^ 
iant hero hails from Reuben's tribe. Famous 
judges by their rulings in Israel shed a luster on 
the age in which they lived and on the people among 
whom they served — men of worth, wisdom, pru- 
dence, men of whom any nation may be proud. 
Complete the list, write it fully, omit no name that 
deserves a place among them. Now scan the roll of 
excellence. Not one of all the stern, irreproach- 
able, incorruptible ministers of justice belongs to 
Reuben's tribe. Now take the roll of prophets, long 
catalogue of those wonderful men with whom God 
deigned to converse, to whom God disclosed the 
scenes of coming days, God's representatives on 
earth. They are the men who more than any 
others shed a luster on Israel's history. Men are 
they, called from every class, in every sphere, to 



30 JACOB'S SONS 

teach the truth of heaven. Enroll them, from Moses 
to Malachi. Write their names in letters of gold. 
Now look upon the shining page. Read each name. 
Which of them all a Reubenite is called? Not 
one! Ask not if Reuben's tribe produced a king. 
The right of royalty Reuben forfeited. Kings come 
by family descent. Yet sometimes men by native 
force usurp the royal honors and make good their 
claim by might. No Reubenite ever sat upon a 
throne by native right or force of excellence. No 
city rose to fame in Reuben's land. " Thou shalt 
not excel." 

Once the patriarchal sentence has gone forth, sel- 
dom does Reuben's name appear in Israel's history. 
When it does appear, the record is but the faithful 
servant to confirm the prophetic declaration of the 
discerning father : " Like a vessel of boi!ing water, 
thou shalt not excel. '* 

The only historic attempt the tribe of Reuben- 
ever made to create a sensation and arrest the doom 
of mediocrity, was a miserable failure, as it deserved 
to be. In the terrible dead level of mediocrity to 
which this tribe sank, two names achieve a momen- 
tary notoriety ; but the boiHng water soon subsides. 
Dathan and Abiram are the men. They stand up 
before Moses and Aaron and say : "Ye take too 
much upon you, seeing all the congregation are 
holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among 
them: wherefore then lift ye yourselves above the 



JACOB'S SONS 31 

congregation of the Lord?" Moses: "If the 
Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her 
mouth, and swallow them up, then ye shall under- 
stand that these men have provoked the Lord." 
And the ground opened and swallowed them up. 

The tocsin of war is sounded. A dire necessity 
presses the Israelites in the north. Even a woman 
is found to buckle warlike armor on and to thrust 
herself into the place of danger. The standard is 
borne aloft. The banner is unfurled. The trumpet 
calls to deeds of heroic daring. A noble little army 
is marshaled under Deborah and Barak. But Reu- 
ben, unmartial, unmoved by patriotic zeal, is con- 
tent to discuss the latest news that comes from the 
stirring scenes of Kishon's blood-stained fields. 
Neither wails of distress, nor fraternal appeals, nor 
martial commands, nor trumpet's music, can arouse 
Reuben's spirit or stir his soul. He lingers among 
his sheepfolds, prefers the music of the shepherd's 
pipe and the bleating of the sheep to the clangor of 
arms and the turmoil of war. 

An easy, mediocre life he lives. As its fruit soon 
his individuality fades on the page of Israel's his- 
tory. His cities are known, if at all, by Moabite 
names. He failed to stamp his own individuality 
on them. In spite of the witness altar Ed, which 
with Gad and Manasseh, trans jordanic tribes, Reu- 
ben reared on the banks of Jordan, he drifted. Re- 
mote from the central seat of national government, 



32- JACOB'S SONS 

taking little interest in civil or sacred affairs, hav- 
ing no heroes, prophets, or judges to link the tribe 
to national glories, inheriting their ancestor's weak- 
ness, bearing his character and shadowed by his 
curse, the Reubenites were the first to drift from 
the ancient moorings and relinquish the religion of 
their fathers. They went after the gods of the 
nations whom Jehovah destroyed before them. In- 
stead of scattering the darkness with the light, their 
light was dimmed, then extinguished, by the dread- 
ful night of idolatry which prevailed about them. 
The last historic mention of them: the Reubenites 
were carried off by Pul and Tiglath-Pileser and 
placed in the remote regions of Mesopotamia. The 
curtain falls. Reuben, who began so well, yet fell 
so low, without a lingering halo of excellence to 
crown his name disappears from the historic page. 

The right to covenant blessings may be lost. A 
single sin may mar the fairest prospect and blight 
the happiest life. Sin leaves a scar which the roll- 
ing ages cannot remove. There is no excellence 
that endures without God's blessing. God by His 
grace may blot out sin and remove the curse which, 
self-imposed, oppresses the sinful heart. 



Ill 

SIMEON 

" Simeon and Levi are brethren; 
Instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. 

my soul, come not thou into their secret; 

Unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united; 

For in their anger they slew a man, 

And in their selfwill they digged down a wall. 

Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; 

And their wrath, for it was cruel : 

1 will divide them, in Jacob, 
And scatter them in Israel." 

—Gen. 49: 5-7. 

Simeon and Levi are here joined. A close 
partnership is theirs. They are united by more 
than a single bond. In the picture they stand to- 
gether at their father's side. In the review of sons 
at the same moment they appear. By the patriarch's 
parting words they are linked. The same announce- 
ment is made concerning both. They are full broth- 
ers, sons of Jacob and Leah. These are bonds. 
But when Jacob says, " Simeon and Levi are breth- 
ren," he doubtless means more than this. He is 
pointing to another, different, closer bond ; they are 
alike. The second and third sons of Jacob early in 

33 



34 JACOB'S SONS 

life by a congeniality of spirit, taste, and pursuit 
are linked together in closest partnership. It was 
not Jacob who, in his parting counsel, linked them, 
but their own temperaments. It is the principle of 
segregation operating here. Like sees like. Hence, 
Simeon and Levi are brethren. 

The same patriarchal words are pronounced on 
both. Their fulfillment, in both cases most exact, 
is so different as regards them that we shall con- 
sider them singly and trace apart these two diverse 
streams that from the same fountain flow. Simeon 
is the older, and is mentioned first. He shall also 
have with us the precedence. 



I. SIMEON S SYMBOLIC SWORD 

The symbol which represents Simeon, the picture 
around which Jacob's words gather and in which 
this second son is graphically set forth, is found in 
the expression : " Instruments of cruelty are in 
their habitations." The marginal reading of the 
accepted version puts it somewhat more clearly: 
" Their swords are weapons of violence." Here 
catch we a sword gleam that is suggestive. As the 
eye traces the patriarch's words there comes on it 
the flash of a brandished sword. So' we have learned 
Simeon's symbol by a glance. That symbol is a 
sword, an instrument of cruelty and violence. Well- 
chosen is this instrument to represent the man by 



JACOB'S SONS 35 

whose hand was held and wielded the first sword 
of which history tells and in whose hand this earli-» 
est historic sword was stained with human blood. 
Simeon's sword was the first to carve its cruel, 
bloody way to fame. By the record which it made 
we come to know that Simeon was a murderer. The 
human blood which imbued his hands is seen drip- 
ping from the eager blade he grasped; and the 
blood-stained sword, with faithful emphasis of 
truth, becomes the symbol of Simeon and of his 
tribe. 

Its meaning? What does the sword signify? 
Cruelty and violence. In what way? By division. 
The sword cleaves in twain. Shining and sharp, it 
cuts, separates, divides. The Great Teacher has 
declared: "They that take the sword shall perish 
with the sword." Men write their sentences with 
the instruments they use. Hence the patriarch, in 
the glimmering light of coming days, through the 
rifts his soul's dark cottage falling makes, pro- 
claims as one who sees afar : " I will divide them 
in Jacob: I will scatter them in Israel." Simeon 
has resorted to the sword. He has made his fellow- 
men to feel its keen, cold edge. Let it be his pro- 
phetic symbol. Under it he shall fall ; before it be 
driven; by it be divided in Jacob and scattered in 
Israel. 

Whenever we think of Simeon, let us think of 
him as thus pictured — ^wearing a sharp, flashing. 



36 JACOB'S SONS 

fine-pointed, keen-edged sword. Let us remember 
that as it points back faithfully to historic truth, so 
with unerring aim and unfaltering exactness it 
points onward to the truth of coming days. 



II. — Simeon's historical sword 

There are very few artistic strokes in the personal 
picture of this man. What of that? By these few 
he is clearly set forth to our view. We truly see 
him as he is. Up to this death scene and tribal 
blessing few incidents of Simeon's life are given. 
But these few have much to tell. Few and brief 
are the words. Through them his character escapes, 
and we behold it as, like a sword flash, it flits by. 
Simeon is implacable, cruel, revengeful, reckless. 
Reuben and he, though full brothers too, were not 
brethren in that other sense. They had nothing in 
common; they were not in sympathy. Reuben was 
good-natured, kind-hearted, easy-going. He was 
something like his grandfather Isaac, gentle and 
kind and weak. Simeon was more like his uncle 
Esau, though somewhat wanting in the noble traits 
which are not diflicult to trace in Esau's wild career. 
Simeon was, as his father said, who knew him best 
and had a most discriminating mind, very much 
like a sword. 

His name Simeon, " Jehovah hath heard," sug- 
gests that as a babe he was welcomed as a direct an- 



JACOB'S SONS 37 

swer to prayer. If so, we here learn, what is so 
often learned, that we bring judgments on our- 
selves ; that our prayers are not always wisest ; that 
we do not always know what is for us best. The 
bright hopes that often cluster around a lovely in- 
fant's life come not always to fruition. As we look 
back through life, through its shadows and sorrows, 
there is sometimes more comfort in an infant's 
grave than in the wreck and ruin of many years of 
squandered life. Simeon lived. If to Leah he was 
God's voice, surely it was the divine voice in 
thunder tones. 

The Urst scene in Simeon's life recorded for us 
is not a quiet, pastoral picture by any means. Simeon 
and Levi at Shechem play together a dreadful part. 
They two with drawn swords slay the men of She- 
chem. It is a strategic scheme, in which these two 
sons of Jacob are guilty of a double crime — false- 
hood and murder. They make promises which they 
do not keep, which we may fairly judge they do not 
intend to keep. They take lives which in a sense 
have been committed to their trust. They are not 
honorable men. In reference to this slaughter, 
which, it seems, they planned and executed secretly, 
Jacob exclaims : " O my soul, come not thou into 
their secret." 

The second scene is at the pit of Joseph. Jewish 
tradition is not to be discarded, though it must be 
used with care. It may sometimes shed a light on 



38 JACOBUS SONS 

Bible story and help us somewhat to understand 
the inspired word. The Targum states that Simeon 
and Levi were especially enemies of Joseph. This 
is most probable. Joseph's dream intimated that he 
was to be exalted above his brethren. Who would 
resent that most? Reuben, the eldest son, with 
whom Joseph's exaltation would most interfere, 
was too good-natured and kind-hearted to be resent- 
ful of this indignity done to the eldest son. Simeon 
came next, and Levi next to him. They were grasp- 
ing, cruel men. It is just what might be expected 
tlhen of them, and especially of Simeon, to feel 
offended, take the slight, and cherish resentment In 
the heart. 

Joseph comes over the hills to Shechem, then to 
Dothan, a messenger to his brethren from their 
home at Hebron. What do these shepherd brethren 
say ? " Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now, 
let us slay himi, and cast him into some pit in this 
wilderness. Then we shall see what will become 
of his dreams." Here are resentment and cruelty. 
It is just a Shechem affair over again. It fits into 
the character of Simeon exactly. It is the undeviat- 
ing testimony of Jewish tradition that Simeon's 
voice counseled death, Simeon's hands stripped from 
Joseph the beautiful coat Jacob had given his favor- 
ite son, Simeon's strength bound the helpless lad; 
Simeon mainly, though assisted by the others, low- 
ered the pleading brother into the pit's dark depth. 



JACOB'S SONS 39 

Unfeeling, cruel as a sword, he dealt fiercely with a 
prince of Israel. 

The third scene is far away from the ancestral 
home and Canaan's fertile hills and lovely meadows 
where Jacob's flocks are grazed. It is in Egypt. It 
is one of those times in history when scenes long 
remembered recur, but in their recurrence are re- 
versed. Justice holds aloft the scales to bring them 
to an even balance. The place is changed. The 
persons are the same. They change their parts in 
the picture. So' by reversal men come to take of 
truth a broader view, to see life in a clearer light. 
All of the pit scene are together now. It is a throne 
scene now. He who was lowest is highest now. 
Joseph puts Simeon in the shadow of a prison cell. 
" Bring Benjamin," he says. " I will keep nine, and 
let one go to bring Benjamin back to me." There had 
been only one who had lifted up his voice to save 
Joseph's life. That one was Reuben. Joseph had 
heard him plead. In his heart he thanked him for It. 
Reuben's words had saved his life. We may readily 
believe that Joseph's plan was now to keep the 
others, and send Reuben back with the corn, and 
have him bring Benjamin to Egypt. Reuben's 
would be the safer hands for the sacred trust of a 
brother's life. For some reason his plan is slightly 
changed. He will send nine, and keep one as a 
pledge of their return. To choose that one, he 
glances around on them. Is It an accident? Is it 



40 JACOB'S SONS 

by merest chance? See, he rests on Simeon his eye, 
and says. Bind him: put him in the shadow of the 
prison cell. Before his brothers' eyes Simeon is 
bound and cast into the Egyptian jail. The scene 
is thus reversed. By this reversal, through many 
weary years, conscience cries, " We are surely guilty 
concerning our brother." It is a fearful moment 
when the finger of Providence points out a long- 
hidden crime and the criminal. Guilt clings to a 
man. Justice pursues a man, wearies not, but over- 
takes and measures out to the full that judgment 
which is due. In Jewish tradition the strength of 
Simeon is second to that of Samson. In all the 
legends connected with his name his fierceness and 
implacability are prominently mentioned. When he 
dies, the story goes, with his parting breath he warns 
his children against the indulgence of such passions. 
The sword points back very sharply and truly to 
Simeon's historical record. He who had known 
him longest, had seen him oftenest, had watched 
him' most closely and anxiously, sums up his judg- 
ment concerning his second son — a cruel and relent- 
less sword. 



III. — SIMEON S PROPHETICAL SWORD 

Simeon's sword is prophetical as well as symboli- 
cal and historical. The future is the fruitage of the 
past. This sword pierces and rends somewhat the 



JACOBUS SONS 41 

veil that shuts out the future of Simeon and his 
tribe. " I will divide them in Jacob and scatter 
them in Israel." 

From the character given to Simeon in the Bible 
and tradition he might be thought eminently well 
qualified to take care of himself. If his tribe par- 
takes of his physical and mental peculiarities, surely 
they may afford to be self-reliant. So it might 
seem. He is strong, and capable of self-defense. 
He is selfish, and capable of looking after his own 
interest. He is cruel, and capable of trampling 
down all who oppose him. Not weakness nor 
magnanimity, nor conscientiousness, is in his way. 
Does he not seem one who can carve out his own 
fortune in those wild, rough, unsettled times ? Give 
him his sword. He asks no more. He girds on 
his sword. That sword carves out the ruin of the 
man and tribe. By it division came. 

This is seen in Moses' census. " I will divide 
them." They were fearfully divided, as the authen- 
tic figures show. The census of Israel was taken 
twice by Moses. Once at Sinai, in the shadow of 
the awful mount, soon after the exodus; again, on 
the green hills of Moab, in full view of the promised 
land, just before the memorable passage of the Jor- 
dan. It is a noteworthy fact that the pilgrim host, 
for forty years homeless wanderers in dreary wastes 
or pathless wilds, surrounded by enemies, bitten by 
serpents, infected by plagues, worn by marches, dis- 



4:2 JACOB'S SONS 

couraged by the difficulties of the way, not merely 
escapes utter extermination, but actually maintains 
its numbers and by its growth constantly supplies 
the places which death was making vacant in its 
ranks. It is a wonder of history. It enters the 
wilderness 600,000 strong in men of war. Forty 
years later it emerges 600,000 strong. The his- 
tory of the individual tribes is yet more remark- 
able. Seven of them gain in numbers. Of these 
Manasseh is most remarkable. This tribe advanced 
from 32,000 to 52,000, a gain of 20,000 in forty 
years. Five tribes suffered diminution. Of these 
the most remarkable is Simeon's. They entered 
59,000 strong, and emerged 22,000 strong, a loss of 
37,000 men. Simeon's tribe was fearfully divided. 
There is no other tribe whose loss is comparable to 
this. The next greatest loss is 8,000 men. Simeon's 
is a loss of 37,000. More than the half was 
gone. 

Why is this? The reason is not difficult to find. 
It was brought about by the sword. The taker of 
the sword is by it perishing. The incident is 
given. The host of Israel is camping on the high 
tableland of Moab, the heights that overlook the 
lower Jordan and the plains of Jericho. They are 
now on the borders of the promised land. The 
cloud which had long guided the pilgrims has now 
rested, and preparations are soon to be perfected for 
the passage of the Jordan. Surely it is a time for 



JACOB'S SONS 43 

joyful worship of Jehovah, the living God. Surely 
now, if ever, a people will be faithful to their alle- 
giance. One more march, a short one, will bring 
them home. 

The Moabites make a feast and invite Israel to 
it. Many Israelites go, and bow down to idol gods. 
These Israelites join themselves to Baal-Peor. The 
anger of God is kindled against them. By His 
command through Moses the order is given : " Slay 
ye every one his men that were joined to Baal- 
Peor." One name emerges here of those who en- 
gaged in this idolatry, only one. It is Zimri, the 
son of Salu, a prince of a chief house among the 
Simeonites. This sad disaster makes fearful inroad 
into their tribe. The sword of punishment is busy 
in its fearful' work. The slaughter ceases. The 
numbers are taken. Lo ! Simeon has been fearfully 
divided. At Sinai Simeon's tribe is third in rank 
of numbers. At Jordan it is last, and a long way 
least. 

David's census witnesses the same. The portion 
of the land which Judah received being too large 
for even that great tribe, and Simeon's tribe being 
now so small, Simeon receives as an inheritance 
eighteen cities in Judah. This was in the southern- 
most part of Canaan, bordering on the desert and 
on the Mediterranean Sea. Simeon's cities were 
around that memorable spot, the venerable well of 
Beer-sheba. Here they dwelt and dwindled. The 



44 JACOB'S SONS 

census seems always to have a sad tale to tell for 
Simeon. David resolves to number his people. 
The work is entrusted to Joab. Joab sends out his 
agents over all the kingdom. They perform their 
work. Now the reports come in, and the great 
reckoning is made. Shall we consult the census 
rolls for Simeon's name? Here it is. Read! In 
the midst of the names and numbers we find a singu- 
lar record, an interpolation, a little note. It seems 
to be apologetic. It seems to be needed tO' justify 
the census-taker, lest his figures be judged as incor- 
rect. It is an explanation for the poor showing 
Simeon makes. Surely these small figures must be 
wrong. There are more Simeonites than this. No ! 
" They had not many children, neither did all their 
family multiply, like tO' the children of Judah." 
Why not? The census-taker maybe did not know. 
Jacob long ago had said : "I will divide them in 
Jacob, and scatter them in Israel." The division 
was still going on. 

Israel's annals tell the same story. Their disper- 
sion in Israel confirms the ancient word. Selfish, 
violent people are seldom satisfied. They never 
dwell contented. So it is with Simeon. They jour- 
neyed forty years to get to Canaan. When they 
reached it and were assigned their homes, they were 
not content. They wore the sword, and could not 
consent to dwell in peace. We have accounts of 
two efforts they made to procure homes elsewhere. 



JACOB'S SONS 4S 

Each effort resulted, not in the strength of unity, 
but in the weakness of division. 

Thirteen chieftains form a colony. Their names 
are all given in the Bible. They quit the cities they 
received from Judah and seek a better country at 
Gedor, at the entrance of Gedor, at the east side of 
the ravine. They had there excellent pasture for 
their flocks. The land is wide and open and quiet 
and peaceable. Its inhabitants, the Hamites, had 
dwelt there of old. The Hamites were a very quiet 
people. Their land had been handed down from 
father to son. But the thirteen chieftains of 
Simeon's tribe drew their swords, smote the Hamite 
tents and the inhabitants, destroyed them utterly 
and dwelt in their room. Divided again; part in 
Judah and part in Gedor. 

Four chiefs collect a band of five hundred men 
and undertake an expedition against the remnant of 
Amalek, who had taken refuge in the distant for- 
tress of Mount Seir. They were successful. They 
drew the sword, smote Amalek, and took possession 
of his place. Simeon was the migratory tribe. 
Their expeditions were successful in a narrow view. 
They smote, slew, possessed. But their successes 
tended to undermine their strength. Thus too the 
prophetic word came to be fulfilled. They were 
scattered in Israel; in Judah, in Gedor, and in 
Mount Seir. 

So by degrees Simeon disappears. They were 



46 JACOB'S SONS 

scattered till the remnants disappear. At last their 
vestiges are all erased. Here comes to view a 
strange feature of Moses' review and blessings of 
the tribes. In his blessing, Simeon's name does not 
appear. The departing leader and law-giver has a 
word for all other tribes, but none for Simeon. Does 
he by prophetic insight suggest that from; the bril- 
liant constellation one star is fading, at some time to 
pass entirely away ? So divided and scattered came 
they to be, that there was little in the record to 
remind one of what was once a mighty tribe. So 
divided and scattered, that to the historian it has 
been a perplexing question to which of the two 
Israelitish kingdoms Simeon belonged. It seems 
the tribe was scattered over both. 

One distinguished name the tribe produced ; only 
one. It was a distinction of the symbolical sword. 
Yet it is difficult to say whether it is the heroine 
of a tragical romance or a strong character in living 
scenes. The city of Bethulia, a colony of Simeon- 
ites, is closely besieged. Impregnable itself, it 
defies the besieging armies of Assyria. Holofernes, 
despairing of success by direct attack, invests the 
city, cuts off its supply of food and water, and sits 
down to try what time will do. The people of the 
city are reduced to want. They can hold out no 
longer. Now a woman's voice is heard. Judith 
speaks : " Open the gate to me, and let me out." 
She goes to Holofernes' tent. She tells him that 



JACOB'S SONS 47 

she will take him into the city, within its gates. 
She watches her opportunity. Alone with Holo- 
fernes, by a well-directed blow of Simeon's sword 
she severs his head from his body, puts it into a 
sack, and carries it in triumph to Bethulia, The 
panic-stricken Assyrians are put to flight. Bethulia 
is free. Judith, the sole heroine of Simeon's tribe, 
is extolled as the ideal type of piety, beauty, and 
courage wherever Jewish annals are read and Jew- 
ish literature is admired. Thus by the flash of a 
sword passes the record of this tribe away. 

Reuben in his character and career represents 
precious birthright lost by fearful sin. Simeon 
shows the bitter fruit of unrestrained anger, undis- 
ciplined passions, and free indulgence of sinful pro- 
pensities of nature. The best characters and the 
worst are made of the same material. The worst, 
when native endowments are unguided and uncon- 
trolled. The best, when these gifts of God are sub- 
dued by grace, cultivated with care, and consecrated 
to the service of the Most High God. 



IV 

LEVI 

" Simeon and Levi are brethem ; 
Instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. 

my soul,, come not thou into their secret; 
Unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united: 
For in their anger they slew a man. 

And in their selfwill they digged down a wall. 
Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; 
And their wrath, for it was cruel: 

1 will divide them in Jacob, 
And scatter them in Israel." 

—-Gen. 49: 5-7. 

Levi^ the third son of Jacob and Leah, is joined 
to Simeon in the patriarch's prophetic words. The 
union of these two brothers is recognized in the 
father's parting counsel. It is convenient, however, 
to trace apart the appHcation of these words to the 
characters and destinies of the men and their tribes. 
We shall find their characters and destinies respon- 
sive to Jacob's announcement, though in different 
ways. 

I. LEVfs SYMBOL 

Levi's symbol is the same as Simeon's, a sword; 
weapons of violence are their swords. In the pic- 



JACOB'S SONS 49 

ture set before us Levi wears a sword, gleaming 
and sharp, drawn and ready for its cruel work. 
This is the scene which Jacob portrays. 

It may be observed that Levi is the only one of 
all these sons to whom an independent and separate 
symbol is not given. This is true unless we except 
Simeon as well. But Levi is attached to Simeon; 
the same words and the same symbol he receives. 
Levi is the dependent one. Levi is the adjunct. 
Somewhat a subordinate position is given him. 
Singular fact, and inviting our notice here, is the 
meaning of Levi's name, " Joined." Leah felt not 
assured of Jacob's earnest affection. When, there- 
fore, this third son was born, she hoped he would 
prove a bond of her husband's love. Hence she 
called the babe Levi, Joined. 

There was a larger meaning in the word than she 
knew. The name follows the boy. Its significance 
adheres to him and marks out his fortune. When 
he appears in incident of patriarchal life or domes- 
tic scene, it is not independently, but " joined " to 
Simeon. " Simeon and Levi " is the phrase as crys- 
tallized by the life and record of the men. This 
union of the two is noticed not only in the slaughter 
of the Shechemites, but at the bedside of the old 
father, when he gathers his sons for his parting 
words ere he dies. Simeon and Levi are brethren. 
They are joined, or, rather, the younger is joined 
to the older, Levi to Simeon. To them a joint 



50 JACOBUS SONS 

announcement is made; to them a joint symbol is 
given. The symbol which both receive and wear is 
a cruel sword, an instrument of violence. 

As regards its meaning, this symbolical sword 
signifies division. In the case of Levi and his tribe 
we may trace three sorts of division that mark their 
career. 

First. — There is a division from, Simeon, to whom 
Levi had been joined. They had been united as 
brethren. They both take swords to execute their 
joint schemes. Those swords divide them and their 
destinies. The paternal parting words they jointly 
receive. These words in great exactness are ful- 
filled, yet in the two men in remarkably different 
ways. We have seen how the cruel, relentless 
Simeon, with the sword dividing others, was him- 
self by the sword so terribly divided. Now we shall 
see how truly, yet differently, the other sword- 
bearer was divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel. 
This difference of destiny is intimated in the patri- 
arch's words. We are not concerned to know how 
much of the fulfillment of his own words Jacob fore- 
saw. We are concerned to note how far historic 
events coincide with the patriarch's words. It may 
be that a prophet appreciates not the full import of 
his own prophecies. His words may be more richly 
freighted with the truth of coming days than he 
supposes. He girds Levi with a sword. All that 
his act imports he may not know. We through the 



JACOBUS SONS 51 

light of history look back and discern, it may be, 
even more than he, what the sword implies. Provi- 
dence is the divine commentary on the divine word. 
I will divide them in Jacob; divide Levi from 
Simeon. Never, perhaps, in the range of history 
have any other two people, at one time so thoroughly 
united, become so effectually divided and separated 
from each other, in character and destiny, as Simeon 
and Levi. They are divided and separated by 
the sword. This is one significance of Jacob's 
words. 

Second. — There is a division in Levi's tribe. It 
is a thorough, complete, and beautiful division of 
the people that constitute the tribe of Levi. Through 
their tribal ranks many lines are drawn, that mark 
out and classify the Levite tribe. 

Third. — There is a division of the tribe among 
the other tribes, a scattering of Levi among the peo- 
ple of Israel. I will divide them in Jacob, and scat- 
ter them in Israel. 



II. LEVIS DIVISION FROM SIMEON 

In the career of this tribe there was a moment, 
sharp as the sword point, on which its destiny hung. 
There was a crisis, thrilled with the trembling bal- 
ance of future good or ill. The faithful chronicler 
records the time and names the place in which 
these two tribes together stand, at which they for- 



S^ JACOBUS SONS 

ever part. The line of separation is keen and sharp. 
It is deeply written, ineffaceably inscribed. This 
is the moment when Simeon and Levi cease to be 
brethren; when Levi, no longer joined to his elder 
brother, but standing apart from him, is joined to 
God. 

We see them stand side by side. The Levite 
wipes the blood of Shechem from his sword and 
draws it in a nobler cause, and redeems his char- 
acter. The Simeonite sheathes his gory blade, 
uncleansed of murderous stain, and refuses to wield 
his sword for God. The prophetic word that mo- 
ment is fulfilled. Division came where long the 
blood had held. These brethren parted — the one to 
dwindle and finally, ingloriously, disappear ; the other 
to rise, to achieve a bright destiny, to shed a bright 
luster on the nation, to fill pages of history with 
records of heroic deeds and honored names. The 
one confirmed his sentence by his life ; the other by 
a better life transformed evil into good and lifted 
and rolled away the shadow which had fallen on 
the tribe. See how this was done. 

It is at the base of Sinai's shadowing height. 
The host of Israel is camping here. Moses, called 
of God, has climbed the Mount. He has passed 
from view among the rugged heights. He is learn- 
ing lessons from the great Teacher and Ruler of 
the host below. Moses away, Israel becomes idola- 
trous. Recently emancipated from Egyptian bonds, 



JACOB'S SONS 53 

they are ignorant and weak; men in age, children 
in character. They see Moses vanish from their 
sight beyond the perilous crags and jutting rocks 
and dizzy heights ; they watch him till he passes out 
of sight. Now they wait for him. They wait long 
and earnestly and anxiously. What has become of 
this Moses who brought them out of Egypt, they 
do not know. They ask, but none can answer. 
Days go by. Weeks wear away. A solid month 
passes. No tidings come from their absent leader. 
He is surely lost. The fortieth day of his absence 
finds them bowing to a golden calf. The same 
day reveals Moses descending from the mountain 
height. Two tables of the law are in his hands. 
When the disgraceful scene of idolatry bursts on 
his sight, incensed at their unfaithfulness, he dashes 
the tables from his hands and breaks them in pieces 
at the mountain base. He grinds the golden calf 
to dust and scatters the gold dust in the streams of 
which Israel drank. The mighty man, inflamed 
with indignant anger, his spirit stirred with a holy 
zeal, in the grandeur of true greatness, abhorrent 
of Israel's crime, just from the presence of the 
King, cries aloud: " Who is on the Lord's side? 
Let him come unto me." 

Now mark the event. " And all the sons of Levi 
gathered themselves together unto him." Put 
every man his sword by his side. How appropriate 
the command to Levi's son, whose tribal symbol 



54 JACOB'S SONS 

was a sword. Put every man his sword by his side, 
go through the camp and slay. Three thousand 
men of Israel fell that day on Levi's sword. Where 
is Simeon now? He does not appear. His sword 
is sheathed. He can plot in darkness, he can fall 
upon helpless Shechemites; but when God calls for 
the sword his is not drawn. Most likely the men of 
Levi bowed to the golden calf as did the others. 
Aaron superintended the work, and he was a Levite. 
Their virtue is not an exemption from the crime, but 
a prompt repentance, return, response, when Moses 
called. 

On that memorable day was conferred on Levi's 
tribe one of Reuben's three birthright blessings. 
Reuben lost all his birthright : his double portion of 
patriarchal wealth, his superior patriarchal rule, 
and his sacerdotal authority and power. This last, 
the sacerdotal office, Levi received, because at Sinai 
he redeemed his character by heroic devotion to his 
God. Moses said : " Consecrate yourselves this day 
to the Lord, because every man of you hath been 
against his brother this day." It was a hard, self- 
denying work to which these Levites were called, 
viewed in the light of natural affection — to slay 
those of kindred ties and tenderest relations and 
strongest bonds. But it was God's cause; it was 
His command. So the Levites consecrate them- 
selves and their swords to God. They are faith- 
ful, devout, and ready. Such are the men whom 



JACOB'S SONS 55 

God chooses and appoints to serve Him. Such are 
the men whom He promotes. 

The consecration of a tribe is a new feature of 
Israel's host and history which demands our notice. 
A tribe is set apart to sacerdotal duties. Hereto- 
fore the eldest son in each family is set apart for 
God. You remember how this occurred. It was 
a terrible night in Egypt. There was weeping in 
every Egyptian home from Pharaoh's royal palace 
to the lowliest hut in all the realm. With Israel 
there was joy in every home, humble as were the 
dwellings of the slaves. Why this difference? 
Every Egyptian parent mourns over the death of 
his firstborn child. The tenth, the last, the greatest 
plague hangs like a pall over all the land. There 
is universal grief, inconsolable sorrow everywhere. 
With what joy the Israelitish mother clasps her 
firstborn, living, to her heart, and thanks God for 
the precious life preserved! God spared that life. 
In a peculiar sense that life belongs to God. There- 
fore every firstborn shall be mine, says God. 

Now at Sinai God makes a change. He substi- 
tutes Levi's heroic tribe for Israel's firstborn. The 
tribe shall be his for sacred office, instead of the 
firstborn of every home. Now notice the coinci- 
dence of numbers. Levi's at Sinai is the smallest 
tribe of all the host — 22,000 men. Even little Ben- 
jamin is nearly double that. No wonder that up to 
this time they joined their little force to Simeon's 



56 JACOB'S SONS 

mighty tribe of 59,000 men. Somehow the develop- 
ment of this tribe has been retarded. But the day 
of their distress has closed. Israel's firstborn num- 
bered 22,2y2i' This chosen tribe just about equals 
that. At the Jordan Simeon's mighty host has been 
cut down to 22,000 men; Levi's highly exalted in 
office, Kfted also in rank of numbers. Thus Simeon 
and Levi were divided. 



III. LEVIS DIVISION WITHIN THE TRIBE 

As the religious tribe, the tribe of sacred office, 
Levi's was classified to a remarkable degree. It was 
more perfectly and beautifuly divided than any 
other tribe. The arrangement of the tribe for the 
performance of its sacred function is a marvelous 
system that commends itself to our notice and ear- 
nest study. Division is the word that describes it 
all. 

First. — There is a division of families. A three- 
fold division runs through the entire tribe, accord- 
ing to Levi's three sons — ^Gershon, Kohath and 
Merari. The second son outstrips the first and 
attains precedence, as Jacob supplanted Esau, Levi 
supplanted Reuben, Ephraim supplanted Manasseh. 
So the order of Levi's sons as always given is: 
Kohath, Gershon, Merari. Hence, their families, 
which together constitute Levi's tribe, are Kohath- 
ites, Gershonites, Merarites. One family of Kohath- 



JACOB'S SONS 57 

ites, the descendants of Aaron, were set apart as 
priests. All the rest were called Levites, who> were 
in a general way servants of the Sanctuary. The 
Kohathites were the most honorable and holiest of 
the Levites. They camped on the south of the 
Tabernacle. On the march they carried the vessels 
of the Sanctuary, even the sacred Ark, after the 
priests had covered them with a dark blue cloth. 
The Gershonites camped on the west, and on the 
march carried the curtains and the hangings. The 
Merarites camped on the north, and on the march 
carried the heavier parts, the boards, the bars, the 
pillars of the sacred tents. The Gershonites and the 
Merarites were allowed wagons and oxen to trans- 
port these heavy burdens, but the Kohathites, be- 
cause they were intrusted with the more sacred 
burdens, must carry them on their shoulders, un- 
aided by any other helpers from without. The 
priests camped east of the Tabernacle. So Levi's 
tribe camped nearest to the Tabernacle, round about 
it on every side. 

Second. — There is a division of duties. When 
the marching was all done, and Israel was settled 
in the land of Canaan, these Levitical families were 
assigned to duties most in accordance with their 
rank. The greatest drudgery devolved on Merari, 
next on Gershon, least on Kohath. The most 
laborious duties of Merari and Gershon were de- 
volved on others in a peculiar way. Soon after 



58 JACOB'S SONS 

their entrance into Canaan there came to Joshua on 
a certain day men with molded bread, old sacks, 
clouted shoes, and a generally dilapidated look, as 
if they had come on a long journey and were very 
far from home. They made a league with Joshua. 
Joshua asked not counsel of God, but made peace 
with themi, and sealed it with a vow. They were 
neighbors. For this deception they were made 
"hewers of wood and drawers of water" for the 
Sanctuary. By these Gibeonites Gershon and 
Merari were partially relieved. Afterwards the 
Nethenimi, captives taken in war, were assigned to 
this duty. Saul had wickedly slain the Gibeonites. 
For this act God sent a three years' famine on the 
land. Thus the Levites, whose duties were con- 
nected with the Tabernacle and the Temple, some- 
what relieved, could be scattered in Israel. 

Third. — There is a division of service. The 
tribe was divided into courses. These courses were 
so arranged that once every year each course would 
be on duty in Jerusalem. In this division the 
number twelve predominates. There were 24,000 
Levites, 24 courses of priests, 288 (24x12) sing- 
ers for the Temple choir. They would need, 
when their turn came, to be able to perform their 
parts in the great choral hymns of the Temple. 
For this they received a special training. Hence, 
the long intervals when off Temple duty were not 
spent in idleness nor in duties foreign to their 



JACOB'S SONS 59 

sacred office. The three Levite famiHes are repre- 
sented in the music of the Temple. The sweet 
strains of Heman's harps and psalteries, the well- 
trained voices of Asaph and his choristers, and the 
melodious notes of Ethan and Jeduthun, men of 
Kohath, Gershon, and Merari, meet and blend and 
harmonize, and make the Temple resound with 
strains of sacred music. While speaking of music, 
it may be well to mention that there were in charge 
of the Levites, and for the education of the Levites, 
at least five seminaries of learning — at Bethel, 
Naioth, Jericho, Gilgal, and Jerusalem. Whatever 
else the students at these schools may have been 
taught, music was an essential part of the curricu- 
lum. Their course in sacred science may not have 
been as comprehensive, thorough, and profound as 
in the schools of the prophets in this day, but in 
one respect at least they suffer not by comparison; 
the art of sacred music was taught with great dili- 
gence and success. The Levites were taught not 
only to expound the word, but to lead the praises 
of God's House. 

IV. — levin's division among the other tribes 

Levi was divided in destiny from Simeon; di- 
vided among themselves for service; again, divided 
among other tribes and scattered in Israel. Levi 
received no separate portion of the land. Look 
over the map which represents the settlement of 



6o JACOB'S SONS 

the tribes. One tribal name is missing. Levi's 
name is not there. Jacob said : " I will scatter 
them in Israel." God afterward said: "Thou 
shalt have no portion among thy brethren in the 
land of Canaan: I am thy portion." They were 
honored with the sacred priestly office, and that 
office had connection with the entire nation. Two 
necessities devolved on Levi faithfully to perform 
his sacred duties. 

First. — He must be relieved of the cares of tilling 
the soil. He must be given up to the one great 
work to which he was called by the voice of God. 
To do that work well he must do that work only. 
A man cannot farm and preach, nor do merchan- 
dise and preach. The want of time and energy 
for both may be an argument, but is not the great 
argument against attempting both. It is rather in 
the nature of the case that one excludes the other. 
There is an incongruity which we may recognize 
and feel. Levi to be a faithful guardian of the 
Temple must have no portion of the land to till, 
to engross his thoughts and to increase his cares. 
He had none. God gave him none. 

But he must be provided for. He can serve in 
the Sanctuary. He cannot live on Sanctuary air 
nor on Sanctuary incense odors. All the fruits of 
Israel's toil are divided on Levi's behalf. He re- 
ceives a tenth. The tithe of treasures from the seas; 
the tithe of oriental merchandise, of fleecy flocks, 



JACOB'S SONS 6i 

of lowing herds, of golden grain, of luscious fruits, 
of honey in the comb, from all the tribes, from 
the far north of Dan to Beersheba in the distant 
south, from the roll of the Great Sea's waves in 
the west to the desert sands that mark the eastern 
limits of the tribes, is brought to Levi's tribe as 
God's portion out of which His servants live. 

Second. — As public servants the Levites must 
not be gathered into one locality. But they must 
be dispersed. The Temple was the great center of 
religious worship, it is true, but if the whole tribe 
of Levi dwelt at its gates and in sight of its walls 
they might fail duly to consider and to regard the 
interests oi far-distant tribes. Men care most for 
what they see. If Levi were concentrated at 
Jerusalem they would neglect the remote tribes be- 
yond Jordan or the distant north. Therefore we 
see the wisdom of the prophetic words: I will 
scatter them in Israel. 

In their scattering there is a beautiful order too. 
Forty-eight cities are allotted to Levi, an average 
of four cities from each tribe. The tribes were not 
of equal numbers nor of equal importance man for 
man. In the distribution these differences were 
considered. The noble tribes of Judah, Benjamin, 
Ephraim, Dan, Manasseh, are honored by the 
assignment to them of the most honored family 
of Kohath. The next important tribes, Issachar, 
Asher, Naphtali, have the Gershonites. The re- 



62 JACOB'S SONS 

maining tribes, Zebulun, Reuben, Gad, have the 
Merarites. Of these forty-eight cities six were 
cities of refuge — three east of Jordan and three 
west. From these forty-eight cities year by year, 
according to their courses, these scattered Levites 
gathered at the city of Jerusalm to perform their 
part in the service of the Temple. Thus the cruel 
and relentless sword of Levi, once drawn in wrath 
and stained with the blood of its murdered victims, 
redeemed by its work for God at Sinai, became a 
symbol of a nobler truth and higher life — worn by 
God's ministers and in God's service and in God's 
Sanctuary, a symbol of the inspired word com- 
mitted to Levi's trust; that word which we are 
told is the Sword of the Spirit. 

This tribe, ennobled by its devotedness to God, 
has a history brightened by a multitude of heroic 
exploits and honored by a host of illustrious names. 

There are crises in our lives. In the watershed 
of the Rocky Mountains there Is a point at which 
the falling rain is turned by a breath of air east- 
ward to the Gulf or westward to the Pacific Ocean. 
There are lines in life that may make Simeons or 
Levis of us all. Children that kneel at the same 
sacred altar, lisp the same prayer, sing the same 
song, heirs of the same blessings, part to reap ruin 
or to achieve a shining destiny and a glorious end. 
The way to true honor and renown is by consecra- 
tion of the life to God. 



JUDAH 

**Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise; 
Thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; 
Thy father's children shall bow down before thee. 
Judah is a lion's whelp: 
From the prey, my son, thou art gone up: 
He stooped down, he couched as a lion, 
And as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? 
The scepter shall not depart from Judah, 
Nor a law-giver from between his feet, 
Until Shiloh come; 

And unto hinn shall the gathering of the people be. 
Binding his foal unto the vine. 
And his ass's colt unto the choice vine; 
He washed his garments in wine. 
And his clothes in the blood of grapes: 
His eyes shall be red with wine. 
And his teeth white with milk." 

— Gen. 49: 8-12. 

Judah is the fourth son of Jacob and Leah. He 
is, with perhaps the exception of Joseph, the best 
known and the most eminent of the patriarch's sons. 
As is very well known, the symbol of Judah and his 
tribe is a lion. There is nothing surely which 
would better portray the character and destiny of 
the man and his tribe. But even the lion, in the 
bare mention of it, comes not up to the high stand- 

63 



64 JACOBUS SONS 

ard which is set for Judah. Three views of lioti 
life are crowded into this one symbol — the lion, the 
lioness, and the lion's whelp. 

'' Judah is a lion's whelp/' in youthful vigor and 
sportiveness exulting over the prey, the young cub 
delighting in the freshness of its life and feeding 
upon its victim. '^ He couched as a Hon''; or, as 
the word here means, as " an old lion " ; not ram- 
pant and roaming, but quiet and satisfied, having 
devoured his food and now taking his rest, couch- 
ing in his den. The full force of this is perceived 
in the fact that an old lion, when lying down after 
satisfying his hunger, will not attack any person. 
He is power in repose. '"And as an old lion"; 
rather to be rendered *' and as a lioness ** ; "as a 
lioness, who shall rouse her up?" The lioness sur- 
rounded by her young none may provoke but at his 
peril. No creature is more alert, none more fierce. 
Thus the lion in every phase of its life is the symbol 
of Judah and his tribe — youthful vigor, power in 
repose, fierce and resistless when aroused. 

As far as history informs, Reuben, Simeon, and 
Levi were at no special pains to emblazon their 
symbols where the world could see. In fact, they 
had reason to be ashamed of what was thereby 
suggested to them,, incidents of their lives of which 
they were reminded. Their symbols pointed to 
their crimes. Judah's symbol is something to be 
proud of. It is indicative of glory, honor, power. 



JACOB'S SONS 6s 

Hence, it is not surprising to find the record that 
in their journeys through the wilderness at the 
head of Judah's column was the standard of the 
lion, and under it the stirring words : " Rise up, 
Jehovah, and let Thine enemies be scattered." It 
is not surprising to learn that on each of the six 
steps leading up to the great ivory throne of Solo- 
mon, Judah's wise king, were two lions, one on 
each side, carved by Hiram's famous workmen ; and 
two lions, one on each side of the throne itself. 

The Egyptian hieroglyphic for pre-eminence was 
a lion's head and shaggy mane. Among the beasts 
of the forest or the plain, the wilderness or desert, 
the lion is supreme. Judah among his brethren is 
exalted, unrivaled, supreme. Judah is the great 
man among his brethren. His tribe is the great 
tribe among the host of Israel. Let us trace this 
pre-eminence. 



I. PRE-EMINENCE OF CHARACTER: JUDAH S 

PERSONAL GREATNESS. 

Jacob gives the symbol, and then comments upon 
it. He indicates the directions in which the symbol 
points. " Thou art he whom thy brethren shall 
praise: Thy father's children shall bow down be- 
fore thee." Here is a play upon a word. Judah 
means praise. Leah praised God when her fourth 
son was born, and called him Praise. Jacob says: 



66 JACOB'S SONS 

" Praise, thou art he whom thy brethren shall 
praise." 

It was Judah who supported Reuben in the 
noble effort to save Joseph's life. But for his sup- 
port Reuben's plan would probably have failed. 
When Reuben's plea and Reuben's pledge failed to 
induce the aged Jacob to let Benjamin gO' with 
them to Egypt, Judah spoke, Jacob yielded, and 
Benjamin went. Judah was a man of speech, of 
power in speech, an orator. This gift may have 
contributed largely to his wonderful influence over 
his brethren. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, spoke. 
None hearkened to their words. Judah' s words 
were always with power. They never fail to sway. 
Judah's speech at Joseph's court in Egypt is one of 
the finest specimens of simple but beautiful and 
powerful eloquence tO' be found in the English 
language or elsewhere. True eloquence is natural. 
It is not a result of elocutionary art. Judah was 
too good a shepherd to be schooled in any art. His 
eloquence was from the heart. It was a natural 
gift, a great endowment from the Giver of all noble 
gifts. He had gathered inspiration among the 
hills of Shechem, in the pasture grounds of Do- 
than, and amid Hebron's varied scenes of vine-clad 
hills and lovely vales. That was all the training 
he had received. It was enough. 

Thus prepared, thus only, for defense, he stands 
at a foreign court accused of highest crime. He is 



JACOB'S SONS (iy 

among strangers. He glances around. Not a fa- 
miliar face greets him,; not a friendly smile gives 
encouragement. Amid harsh rulers, before a 
frowning prince, Judah stands. Circumstantial evi- 
dence by a remarkable combination is very strong 
against these sons of Jacob. Read the words he 
spoke. Judge of their eloquence by their effect. 
They moved and melted Joseph's heart and broke 
up the fountain of his tears. Even now, after 
thousands of years have passed, few can read these 
words of Judah unmoved to tears. 

In this pathetic scene Judah is the central and 
heroic figure before whom even Joseph, clad in 
princely elegance and wearing Pharaoh's ring, 
bows with breaking heart and flowing tears. 
"Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise. 
Thy father's sons shall bow down before thee." 
How rare is genuine praise! Men seldom praise 
those before whom they are constrained tO' bow in 
token of superiority. A little superiority to others" 
provokes jealousy, envy, criticism, dislike. The 
man who is somewhat excelled sees in his success- 
ful rival nothing but faults; and wonders that 
others see not as he does. It is only far-surpassing 
excellence that disarms of such unworthy weapons. 
It is only when a man has not only excelled, but so 
far excelled as to exclude all rivalry, all possible 
competition, that praise begins to be hearty, genu- 
ine, sincere. When Joseph dreamed of exaltation 



68 JACOB'S SONS 

above his brethren they despised him. It was but 
a dream. Nothing could more clearly evince the 
great excellence of Judah than Jacob's words: 
" Thy father's sons shall bow down before thee, 
and thy brethren shall praise thee." Nobody ques- 
tions the lion's superiority. Nobody proposes to 
contest the right of Judah to absolute pre-eminence. 
He takes his place with universal consent and uni- 
versal applause. Some men are born to rule. If 
they comiC not into the world with the honors of 
birthright, they will achieve eminence by their own 
superior talents, by their native force. Such was 
Judah. 

II. 'PRE-EMINENCE OF NUMBERS I THE LARGEST 

TRIBE 

In the light of history Judah's tribe was of all 
Israel's tribes the most prosperous, if we judge of 
prosperity by numbers. " Unto him shall the 
gathering of the people be." While some think 
these words are spoken of Shiloh, many learned and 
judicious commentators refer them tO' Judah first 
and to Shiloh as a representative of Judah next. 
At Sinai, where the Israelites were numbered, 
Judah numbered 74,600 men, by far the largest of 
the tribes, though the founder of this mighty tribe 
was younger than Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, heads 
of other tribes. Levi numbered 22,000. Judah, 
though younger, 74,600. The explanation is found 



JACOB'S SONS 69 

in Jacob's words spoken so long before: "Unto 
Judah shall the gathering" of the people be." After 
forty years of wilderness life, at the Jordan Judah 
numbers 76,500. Numerical strength deserts not 
the tribe to which prophetic words ascribed the 
gathering of the people. In the dry chronicles, 
in the lifeless, dreary figures which measure David's 
multitude of men, this little record by its deviation 
from dull routine attracts the reader's notice: 
" Multiply like unto the children of Judah." 

Jf not weary of figures, notice another remark- 
able record of Judah' s numerical growth. When 
the kingdom of Solomon was divided, Rehoboam 
his son, the king of Judah, musters 180,000 men. 
In eighteen years the army ol Judah has grown to 
400,000 men. In the next reign it is 580,000, just 
the total of the two preceding reigns. In the next 
reign it is 1,160,000 men, exactly double what it 
was in the preceding reign, and exactly equal to 
the aggregate of the armies of the three preceding 
reigns. Such a rapid increase is perhaps without a 
parallel in the history of national development. It 
was the tribe great in numbers : " Unto Judah shall 
the gathering of the people be." 

III. PRE-EMINENCE OF WEALTH : THE RICH TRIBE 

The lion was first served, and well served. In 
everything Judah comes first. Are the Israelites 



70 JACOB'S SONS 

on the march? The tribe of Judah leads the van. 
Judah's standard with its lion and its watchword 
is the first to penetrate the pathless wild, to scale 
the rocky hills, or to enter the stillness of the desert 
waste. Is the host called to sacrifice? Judah's 
tribe first draws near the Altar and sheds the sac- 
rificial blood. Do the people ask. Who shall go up 
against the Canaanites first to fight against them? 
The answer comes : " Judah shall go up first : be- 
hold, I have delivered the land into his hand." Is 
the land to be divided? Judah is served first, and 
largely served. The land was divided by lots cast 
solemnly before Jehovah. To Judah fell the lion's 
portion. Judah's portion reached from the Dead 
Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The line that 
marked its northern limit ran just south of what 
afterwards was Jerusalem, leaving that site barely 
without the territory given to this tribe. The 
southern border was the southern boundary of 
Israel's land. Long ago the portion had been well 
described by Jacob when he said: "Binding his 
foal to the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice 
vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his 
clothes in the blood of grapes : his eyes shall be red 
with wine, and his teeth white with milk." 

A great profusion of the good things of this life 
is indicated here. Here is wine and milk without 
money and without price. Here are the gardens 
and granaries of the land. The cities and villages 



JACOB'S SONS 71 

which crowned almost every hill in Judah's rich in- 
heritance were remarkable for the beauty and pro- 
fusion of the gardens which surrounded them ; the 
scarlet blossoms of the pomegranate, the oranges 
which gilded the green foliage of their groves, add- 
ing to the beauty of the scene. Immense plains of 
corn-fields throughout Shephelah stretch to the sea- 
shore. From these corn-fields were gathered car- 
goes of grain shipped by Solomon to Phenicia in 
exchange for the products of Hiram's forests and 
for Hiram's art. There too were the olive trees, 
the sycamore trees, the treasures of oil, the care of 
which taxed the energies of men in David's day. 
There within the borders of this tribe that by lot 
fell to Judah lay in all its beauty the historic, fa- 
mous, rich valley of Eshcol, from whose gigantic 
and luxuriant growth was plucked the noted cluster 
of grapes, a specimen of the abundant fruitage of 
the land, carried by the spies to Israel camping on 
the southern border of the land, fearing to enter in. 
Surely amid such luxuriant growth and rich abun- 
dance Judah might well afford to bind his foal unto 
the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine. 
There surely was no difficulty in washing his gar- 
ments in wine, his clothes in the blood of grapes. 

Judah rolled in wealth. Judah's riches seemed 
always a tempting prize for the spoiler's hand. 
Kingdoms were enriched by the spoliation of 
Judah's wealth. Egypt, Damascus, Samaria, Nin- 



72 JACOB'S SONS 

eveh, Babylon, each in turn emptied this rich 
treasury. But emptied it would not stay. Bank- 
rupt Judah was often made; but ever quickly 
would rise from ruin, and in opulence surpass those 
who had grown rich on Judah's plundered treasures. 
The lion's strength was not exhausted nor his spirit 
quelled. In prosperity Judah is power in repose — 
calm, confident, dignified. In adversity, rising in 
his strength unconquered, he reasserts and reattains 
superiority and command. 



IV. — PRE-EMINENCE OF POWER: THE ROYAL 
TRIBE 

The lion is the emblem of royalty. The lion 
means crown, scepter, throne. How improbable 
the fulfillment in this sense of these patriarchal 
words. Judah in Egypt, in the land of Goshen, at 
his dying father's couch, looks not much like a 
king. Israel in Egypt looks not much like a people 
out of whom any royalty can come. A little band 
has gathered to see the patriarch die. Objects of 
charity almost, they receive benefaction from Pha- 
raoh's hands. Their only tenure of Pharaoh's 
kindness is Joseph's life. Their prospects not en- 
larging, but contracting. They are destined soon 
to tread the deep, dark vale of poverty and bonds. 
Yet the dying man speaks of a crown, a scepter, a 
throne! Some might think it a delirious dream 



JACOB'S SONS 73 

of a dying- man. The shadows fall. Servitude 
comes. Deeper, darker, drearier, the night shade 
falls on Israel. The prophecy remembered is long 
unfulfilled. 

Seven hundred years have slowly passed away. 
The terrible battle of Gilboa has been fought. 
Israel is put to flight before Philistine hosts. The 
star of Saul has set — with the ebbing of his life. 
David, son of Jesse, of Judah's tribe, is hailed as 
King of Israel. Upon his brow the crown is 
placed. He mounts the throne. To his hand the 
scepter is given. This badge of royalty Judah 
holds a thousand years. 

The northern kingdom was the scene of almost 
constant revolution and usurpations. Various 
dynasties sat on that throne. Seldom there did 
son succeed his father. Often the servant mur- 
dered the master and seized the master's crown. 
But in the kingdom of Judah, without an excep- 
tion, the crown is handed down from father to son 
in lineal descent for a thousand years. Even in 
periods of Israel's captivity Judah's prince and heir 
to royal honors was recognized as ruler of the 
people. The scepter was still in Judah's hand. 
To Judah's tribe belonged the kings — the heaven- 
appointed kings. That throne of ivory, covered 
with gold, adorned with lions, Judah's symbol, was 
never dishonored by usurper, but all down the ages 
was occupied by Judah's men. Never sat there a 



74 JACOBUS SONS 

king in Jerusalem, on Judah's throne, that was not 
in lineal descent from Judah, Jacob's royal son. 

Was there a limit to this glory? Was there a 
limit in the prophetic word " until " ? How long 
shall the lion perch on Judah's standard? How 
long shall the scepter be in Judah's hand? How 
long shall this pre-emience be Judah's portion? 
Forever? Nay, '' Until." There is a line of limi- 
tation sharply drawn. Can we find it? Can we 
clearly see and trace it ? " The scepter shall not 
depart from Judah until Shiloh come." The limit 
of Judah's glory is his greatest glo^ry. This is a 
remarkable prophecy. This is a battle-field where 
with arguments men have met and fought. No 
wonder that Jew and Christian seek to discern the 
true meaning of these words. The scepter was not 
forever to be held by Judah's hands. It was to de- 
part. When? At Shilob's coming. His coming 
would somehow mark the wrenching of the scepter 
from Judah's hand, the plucking of the crown from 
Judah's brow, the fading of the lion on Judah's 
standard. 

Judah had the scepter once. Of this there is 
no doubt. Has the scepter departed from Judah? 
It has, beyond a doubt. Judah has no crown, 
no throne, no scepter, no royalty to-day. When 
did these royal insignia depart from' Judah? 
Does history tell? It surely does. The facts are 
not unknown. Herod, called the Great, is dead. 



JACOB'S SONS 75 

He is the last king of the Jews. He had fortified 
his royal right in every possible way. He is now 
dead; lies in state. Purple robes are around him. 
A crown and scepter, though by death wrenched 
from his grasp, adorn his bier. With muffled 
drums and fragrant incense the body of Judah's 
last king is carried to its tomb in the Herodium. 
Judah's royalty is at an end. From that day to 
this no scepter has been held by any representing 
Judah's tribe. There was one effort made to pro- 
long and perpetuate Judah's royal rule. It was 
made by Herod's son. But Augustus, Emperor of 
Rome, forbade the title and refused tO' confer the 
crown. Then it was the Jewish people cried: 
" We have no king but Caesar." These are all 
plain facts. The time had come, of which Jacob 
spoke. The scepter had departed from Judah. 

Did anything about this time occur that might 
be construed as a fulfillment of Jacob's other words, 
" Until Shiloh come"? Had Shiloh come? Shiloh 
means peace. There, close by where was laid 
Judah's last king, where were composed the hands 
that held the scepter, had recently been born the 
Prince of Peace. At His birth the angels sang 
" Shiloh on earth." Herod sought to kill the child. 
But it was Herod who must go. So the last king 
of Judah with reluctance laid his scepter down, as 
if to tell the world Shiloh had come indeed. What 
about the lion? The true Lion of the tribe of 



^e JACOB'S SONS 

Judah had come. The type had touched its ante- 
type, and had vanished. Within the Sanhedrin, 
which Herod had convened to ascertain where Mes- 
siah should be born, was one whose father, a most 
learned rabbi, had said : " The Scriptures clearly 
teach that within fifteen years the Messiah shall 
appear.'' 

Remarkable prophecy! Remarkable fulfillment! 
Blessed be God! Shiloh had come. A heavenly 
royalty is His right. A scepter of universal power 
is in His hand. A crown of fadeless glory rests 
on His brow. 

" All hail the power of Jesus' name ! 
Let angels prostrate fall! 
Bring forth the royal diadem, 
And crown Him Lord of all ! " 



VI 

ZEBULUN 

" Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea ; 
And he shall be for an haven of ships; 
And his border shall be unto Zidon." 

—Gen. 49: 13. 

A FEW strokes of the artist present to us here 
an attractive picture. We look upon a haven of 
the sea. Zebulun' s symbol is a goodly harbor, 
whose calm, quiet, capacious waters are a safe re- 
treat from the perils of the stormy sea. Nor is it 
water nor capacity only; nor only a retreat ready 
and waiting to welcome the mariner who seeks 
safety and rest; not merely a beautiful seaport in- 
viting residence and repose; not a harbor traced 
by ruins, once prosperous, now fallen to decay. 
But it is a stirring scene of active life. Vessels of 
varied sails grace the harbor. It is "a haven of 
ships." Many and different crafts, coming and 
going, adorn " the haven of the sea." The mer- 
chant ship grapples the shore with strong cables, 
empties its treasures from other lands, and stores 
in its hold native produce for distant ports. All is 
activity. All is life. Zebulun is a haven of ships. 

77 



78 JACOB'S SONS 

Such is the picture; such the symbol. What does 
this symbol signify? There are in it suggestions 
of abode, manner of life, occupation, and character. 
It suggests that the tribe of Zebulun might be called 
the merchants and mariners of Israel. Zebulun 
means ^' dwelling." Here again is the alliteration 
of which Jacob seems very fond : " Dwelling shall 
dwell at the haven of the sea." 



I. THE PERSONAL FEATURES: ZEBULUN 

THE MAN 

Very little is recorded of Zebulun. But that 
little is worthy of our notice. He is the sixth and 
last son of Jacob and Leah. His name tells the 
same sad story of Leah's heart trouble. She wrote 
her domestic sorrows in her sons' names. It is 
a story written all through her life — an alienated 
husband, a jealous wife. At the birth of this sixth 
son she exclaimed, " Surely now my husband will 
dwell with me!" Her bright hope, however, des- 
tined to be dimmed, reflects its cheer in the name 
she gives the babe. She calls him " Dwelling." 

Zebulun is the sixth and last son of Leah. In the 
order of mention his name is fifth. Reuben, 
Simeon, Levi, Judah, have been mentioned in the 
exact order of their ages. In the same order 
Issachar would come next. But Zebulun for some 
reason takes precedence of him. The sixth is put 



JACOB'S SONS 79 

before the fifth. The younger of these two is first 
called. Zebulun receives his blessing before Issa- 
char. Why is this? No answer can be definitely 
given to this question. .But in this fact there is a 
suggestiveness. 

Leah's sons were six: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, 
Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. These are divided 
into two classes. The first four are born in rapid 
succession. Among these, Judah, the youngest, is 
given the pre-eminence. The next two, Issachar 
and Zebulun, are born in close succession, but after 
a long interval which separates them from the pre- 
ceding four. So these two younger sons constitute 
a class by themselves. Jacob puts the younger be- 
fore the older, as he so often does. Jacob was 
himself a supplanter. He obtained the birthright 
from Esau, his older brother. He persistently per- 
petuates the inverse order that marked his own 
career, the younger first. Not in his own sons only 
does he this, but in his grandsons too. Joseph 
brought his sons Manasseh and Ephraim to Jacob 
for his patriarchal blessing. He brought them to 
the blind old man so that Manasseh would come 
under Jacob's right hand of larger blessing and 
Ephraim under the left hand of minor blessing. 
But Jacob, suspecting this, crossed his hands, ex- 
changed the bl,essings, and forever reversed the 
order of the names. That act forever stamped the 
phrase : Ephraim and Manasseh. So here, by the 



8o JACOB'S SONS 

patriarch's arbitrary act, it is now Zebulun and 
Issachar. 

Another fact merits notice. Circumstances nat- 
urally would bind Zebulun and Issachar together 
and make them constant friends and daily com- 
panions in childhood and youth. There was much 
jealousy in Jacob's family. There were whole 
brothers and half-brothers. Their mothers were 
not on the best of terms. There were four mothers 
and four sets of boys. Jealousies must have been 
handed down from the mothers to the sons. Do- 
mestic broils could scarcely have been rare. Leah's 
sons must have been bound closely together and 
must have felt their importance, an importance 
coming from their mother's rank. The first four 
were much older than the other two. While they 
therefore were abroad in their pleasures or their 
duties, little Zebulun and Issachar, circling still 
around their mother's tent, under her immediate 
care, wove closer the bond of common age and 
parentage. Cut off from their whole brothers by 
difference of ages, cut off from their half-brothers 
by petty jealousies, these two to each other the more 
closely clung. The bond, thus formed and strength- 
ened, endured. It not only endured during their 
lives, but in the record of their tribes it is easily 
traced three hundred years afterwards. When 
Moses pronounced his parting blessings on the 
tribes, he unites in one blessing Zebulun and Issa- 



JACOB'S SONS 8i 

char. When by lot a division of the land is made, 
a kind providence gives to these two friendly 
tribes adjoining portions. Thus were they still 
closely bound. 

When Jacob and his family moved down to 
Egypt Joseph took five of his brethren and pre- 
sented them to Pharaoh. Why five is not explained. 
Which five it is not recorded. Jewish tradition, 
ever fertile in expedients for filling up the gaps 
of the inspired word, mentions Zebulun as the first 
of these five. Why first there is no explanation. 
These facts are all that can be affirmed about the 
man. 

II. THE LOCAL FEATURE: THE HOME OF THE 

TRIBE OF ZEBULUN 

The next feature of Jacob's prophecy concerning 
Zebulun is local. It suggests the geography of 
the tribe, in the settlement in the land of Canaan. 
Jacob describes Zebulun's home. He pictures the 
exact locality which Zebulun by lot should receive 
and occupy, and where the tribe shall dwell. His 
symbol is a haven of the sea. Of what use and of 
what purport would such a symbol be to a tribe en- 
sconced amid the hills, guarded by rugged moun- 
tains, denizens of desert or strangers to the sea? 
Zebulun is a haven. His portion somehow must 
be connected with the sea. But even that is not all 
and does not exhaust the features of the picture 



82 JACOB'S SONS 

Jacob drew. Tlhere is a long seacoast of Israel 
that extends from Tyre and Sidon in the north to 
the river of Egypt in the south. What part of this 
long shore line marks the haven where Zebulun 
shall dwell? His borders shall be toward Zidon. 
Thus definitely, three hundred years before the dis- 
tribution of the land, is marked out the portion 
where Zebulun shall dwell. 

The three hundred years have passed. The time 
has come for the division of Canaan. How shall 
it be accomplished? The division was made in 
three stages. First, two and a half tribes by special 
arrangement settled east of Jordan. They re- 
ceived their allotment at the hand of Moses. Sec- 
ond, after Moses' death and the passage of the Jor- 
dan, Joshua began the distribution by the settlement 
of Judah and Joseph. Then there was a long in- 
terval, in which the distribution for some reason 
was arrested. Seven tribes remained yet unpro- 
vided for. The host still kept up its thorough, 
compact organization, and camped around the old 
Tabernacle at Gilgal. When the Tabernacle was 
moved from Gilgal the distribution was resumed. 
It was executed in the following manner : A com- 
pany of surveyors was organized, three men from 
each tribe, to make a survey of all the undivided 
land, and to divide it into portions according to the 
number of the unsettled tribes. All this they did, 
and described the boundaries in a book. The por- 



JACOB'S SONS 83 

tions of land were divided off, and the boundaries 
were written in a book, before the lots were drawn. 
Then the lots were drawn. The appeal was made 
to God. He determined where each tribe should 
dwell. By the lot He guided each tribe to its home 
as truly and as surely as ever by the Pillar of Cloud 
He led Israel through all their wanderings to the 
borders of the land. In this allotment of the re- 
maining tribes Zebulun's name comes third. He is 
the ninth in all the list to receive his portion. The 
tribes are settling all around. When his turn has 
come, and his lot is drawn, it is precisely what 
Jacob long ago had said : A haven of the sea ! 

The tract of Zebulun connects the two seas of 
the land. Its eastern limit is the pebbled shore of 
Galilee; its western limit is washed by the waters 
of the Mediterranean Sea. Draw a line from the 
northern extremity of the Sea of Galilee westward 
till it reaches the Great Sea ; then draw a line from 
the southern extremity of the Sea of Galilee west- 
ward to the Great Sea ; with slight modification be- 
tween these lines will be found Zebulun's portion. 
It is bounded on the west by the Mediterranean 
Sea, with its only haven along Israel's coast, Accho 
or Acre, famed in story ; on the east by the Galilean 
Sea and its numerous havens, celebrated in sacred 
song. 

Thus we are taught the manner in which God 
carries out the purpose of His grace and love. He 



84 JACOB'S SONS 

makes the prophecy. He draws the plan. He 
writes the boundaries in His book. We live, and 
toil, and plan, and achieve, and do our will. God 
is glorified. His purpose is served. His will is 
obeyed. His kingdom stands. How well the 
tribal standard, which, -emblazoned with its symbol, 
led the column many years suits the home to which 
the tribe is now divinely led! If we were wiser, 
we should oftener sing : 

" In each event of life how clear 

Thy ruling hand I see; 
Each blessing to my soul most dear, 
Because conferred by Thee." 



III. — THE TRIBAL FEATURE: THE LIFE OF THE 
TRIBE OF ZEBULUN 

Another glance at Jacob's prophecy about Zebu- 
lun reveals a tribal feature. It may have been a 
resultant of the tribal home. There is a commer- 
cial aspect of the scene that attracts our notice. 
Jacob tells where Zebulun shall dwell ; then suggests 
what calling the tribe shall pursue. Their home 
suggests and creates their business. They are to 
be the merchants and mariners of Israel. Com- 
merce is the chief characteristic of the tribe. Not 
that all were merchants and mariners. But sea- 
faring life and merchandise are distinctive features 
of the tribe. Export and import, interchange of 



JACOB'S SONS 85 

home and foreign produce, these mark the tribe. 
People make their homes. Every home comes to 
bear the impress of those who dwell within it and 
have the right to call it home. Home makes its 
people too. There is no- one who lives that does 
not bear the impress of his home. Everyone is 
what his surroundings have made him. There is a 
sculpturing ever going on, by which character is 
made. The stroke may not be heard. The power 
is surely felt. A gentle hand, firmi and steady, is 
carving out from day to day man's character and 
destiny. He who stands on the wave-washed shore 
looks out over the vast restless sea, listens to the 
music of its waves, and braces against its storms, 
must be a different man from the mountaineer. 
Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea. Then 
his destiny is fixed. His home will bring him to 
his great lifework. He will learn to be a sailor, 
and, if a sailor, a merchant too. 

Zebulun quickly learned the lesson which the sea 
billows taught. It is asserted with great emphasis 
by a Jewish writer that Zebulun is commemorated 
as the first to navigate a skiff upon the sea. But let 
us not, amid the clouds of Jewish tradition, stop our 
search. Let us come to the surer Scriptures and to 
well-authenticated facts of history. How shall we 
judge of the commercial importance of this tribe? 
There are no annual reports through which to 
search for facts. There is no history of its mer- 



§6 JACOBUS SONS 

cantile transactions. The facts established are very 
sparse. What shall we do? Suppose a map of 
this country is unrolled before us. We are asked 
to point out the d^mmercial centers of the land. 
Would we not say these centers will be found where 
the highways of travel are seen to converge? This 
is emphatically true where the highways of land 
and the highways of water come together. Now 
it is not difficult to note that the highways of Israel's 
land tell by their convergence where Israel's com- 
merce was enthroned. 

East of Jordan there was a public way, broad and 
well built, frequented by the crowd — ascending the 
valley of the Jordan, crossing westward by a bridge 
just south of the Sea of Galilee, then turning north- 
ward, leading to the shore washed by the crystal 
waters of that beautiful inland sea. Thus are we 
brought to the eastern border of Zebulun. On the 
western side of Jordan there was also a frequented 
way leading northward to the same shore of Gen- 
nesaret, the dwelling-place of Zebulun. Or, sup- 
pose we start at the haven of Accho on the Mediter- 
ranean Sea. It is called the " Key of Palestine." 
It, in the shadow of Mount Carmel, is the most im- 
portant seaport on the Syrian coast. From this im- 
portant point there was a way of travel eastward 
through Zebulun's inheritance to Gennesaret and 
Jordan. If we start at Jerusalem, the religious 
center, perhaps the greatest thoroughfare in all the 



JACOB'S SONS 87 

land conveys us over the mountain of Ephraim 
across the plain of Esdraelon, by Nazareth to Gen- 
nesaret. All these lines of travel center in Zebulun. 

The reason of all this is that the mariners of 
Zebulun brought home from their voyages the va- 
ried products of other lands. On the shores of 
the Great Sea and the Sea of Galilee there sprang 
up industries which caused the land of Zebulun to 
be called " the manufacturing district " of Palestine. 
At one time the waters of the Galilean Sea were 
plowed by four thousand vessels of every kind, from 
the proud three-master to the rude fishing-boat of 
Bethsaida. 

Commercial marts are noted for one peculiarity 
among others — the confluence of varied types of 
humanity. The brisker the trade the greater the 
variety. Farming countries are not the resort of 
foreigners; but mercantile centers are. All about 
these havens of Zebulun Jews and Gentiles are 
strangely mingled. The restless Arab of the desert 
with his aromatic spices is here side by side with 
the enterprising Phenician with his goods of Tyrian 
purple. Here the Syrian and the haughty Roman 
and the aesthetic Greek often meet. The language 
of the country is modified by foreign contact. 

Within the borders of Zebulun were not only the 
fisheries of the sea and the haven of ships, but the 
sacred mountains of Carmel and Tabor and the vil- 
lage of Nazareth, where most of Christ's life was 



88 JACOB'S SONS 

spent, and the Galilean cities, where most of Christ's 
mighty works were performed. It was from the 
men who dwelt within Zebulun's borders that 
Christ formed the band of his Apostles. Peter and 
Andrew, James and John, left their haven by the 
sea, their boats and fishing-tackle, and followed 
Jesus to become fishers of men. Hence in the min- 
istry of Christ time and again we are brought into 
contact with seafaring life and mercantile pursuits. 
The best soldiers in the world's great armies 
have been those recruited from commercial life and 
mercantile pursuit. It is not the farmer boy that 
makes the best soldier. It is the merchant and his 
clerk. Therefore we are not surprised to hear the 
eulogy Deborah pronounced on Zebulun : " Zebu- 
lun is a people that threw away its life even unto 
death." At a later day: "Of Zebulun, such as 
went forth in battle, expert in war, with all instru- 
ments of war, fifty thousand, which could keep 
rank: they were not of a double heart." The mer- 
chant princes became the military heroes of the 
land. 

IV. — THE RELIGIOUS FEATURE: THE CHARACTER 
OF THE TRIBE OF ZEBULUN 

Moses gives an additional feature in his bless- 
ings on the tribe of Zebulun, the religious fea- 
ture. " Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out. They 
shall call the people unto the mount. There shall 



JACOB'S SONS 89 

they offer sacrifices of righteousness. For they 
shall suck of the abundance of the seas/' God 
opened His highways of commerce, and He bade 
them rejoice in that commerce. They sucked in 
the abundance of the seas, grew rich, and rejoiced 
in their riches. Mark two directions of their reli- 
gious life. 

First. — They were missionaries of divine truth; 
missionaries of commerce and missionaries of truth. 
They called the people to the mount — the sacred 
mount — Mount Zion. The ship that sailed laden 
with the product of the land bore also' to distant 
shores the tidings of Jehovah. The sailor as he 
walked the streets of foreign marts spoke of his 
Jehovah. The merchant, as he met the Arab, 
Syrian, Phenician, in his counting-room, in the 
market-place, did not forget his allegiance to his 
God, but commended Jehovah to the stranger from 
the foreign land. The merchant and the mariner 
were missionaries. They sought to bring the en- 
larging circle of their acquaintance to the sacred 
mount. 

The first foreign missionary of whom we read 
was a man of Zebulun. God said to Jonah : " Go 
to Nineveh." Jonah preferred to go to sea. True 
to the symbol of his tribe, he sought the haven of 
the sea — rushed to the seacoast, entrusted himself 
to the rolling billows. 

Oh, for merchant princes inspired with Christian 



90 JACOB'S SONS 

missionary zeal ! The greatest obstacle to missions 
in the foreign field is the wicked lives of irreligious 
men that hail from Christian lands who by their 
conduct seem to give the lie to the message of truth. 
True sons of Zebulun while they suck abundant 
riches from the seas, conspire to tell the greater 
riches of truth and grace. 

Second. — They offer sacrifices of righteousness. 
God made them rich, and according to their riches 
they gave. They came up to the Temple, and came 
laden with the treasures of the seas. They were 
not impoverished by their gifts. Honor the Lord 
with thy substance, with the firstfruits of all thy 
increase. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, 
and thy presses burst with new wine. Free handed- 
ness toward God is the true road to riches — the 
road to true riches. Abundant harvest and over- 
flowing vintage often put covetousness to shame. 
A niggardly spirit toward God spares the seed com 
and contracts the harvest. 

Zebulun settles where Jacob prophesied, and 
where God led the tribe to dwell. He adapts him- 
self to the character of his inheritance. He be- 
comes a seafaring and mercantile tribe. Wealth 
rolls in upon him. He forgets not God who gave. 
He proclaims the living God to all to whom he 
goes, to all who come to him. He leads them to 
the sacred mount, and lays his choicest treasures on 
the Altar of his God. 



VII 

ISSACHAR 

" Issachar is a strong ass 
Couching between two burdens : 
And he saw that rest was good, 
And the land that it was pleasant; 
And bowed his shoulder to bear, 
And became a servant unto tribute." 

— Gen. 49: 14-16. 

Issachar is the fifth of Leah's sons in the order 
of their ages; in the order of patriarchal blessing 
the sixth and last. In our studies of the Tribes he 
concludes the first section of Jacob's family, namely, 
Leah's sons. There is very little known about 
Issachar the man. Nothing indeed can be added 
to his record beyond what has been mentioned in 
connection with Zebulun. Almost without notice 
he passes through the scenes of patriarchal life. 
His name rarely appears in the historic page. The 
child is born, is named, unmentioned lives, performs 
his part, achieves his destiny. From obscurity he 
emerges when his dying father calls his sons to re- 
ceive their blessings from him ere he departs. 
Jacob knew him., and faithfully no doubt portrays 

91 



92 JACOB'S SONS 

him. Certainly no tribe was more clearly marked 
in life and character; none more clearly pictured by 
prophetic word. 

I. — issachar's symbol 

" Issachar is a strong ass couching down between 
two burdens." Thus far, in considering these 
symbols of the tribes of Israel, we have been called 
to note two water scenes, Reuben's vessel of water 
and Zebulun's haven of the sea; two weapons of 
violence, Simeon's and Levi's swords ; two animals, 
Judah's lion and Issachar's ass. The ass which here 
represents the tribe of Issachar is a beast of burden, 
large, strong, swift, and spirited ; a beast in that day 
valued and highly regarded for its worth and ex- 
cellent qualities. The horse, a special pride of the 
Egyptians, was to the Israelites a forbidden animal. 
The ass was therefore Israel's chief beast of burden. 

Issachar is represented here as " couching down 
between two burdens." To receive the correct im- 
pression of this symbol we must at once get rid of 
the thought conveyed by the word "burden." 
There is no such thought conveyed by the Hebrew 
word. The word rendered " burdens " means 
" borders," or landmarks, or sides of a stall, the 
partitions that mark off and enclose a stall. The 
suggestion of the English wording of this verse is 
erroneous — a poor, hard-worked beast of burden, 
cruelly laden, a burden on one side and a burden 



JACOB'S SONS 93 

on the other side, and between the two crushed down 
to earth. Jacob's thought is a very different one — 
a good, strong, well-fed beast of burden, in his 
bedded stall, between the projecting sides, lying' 
down to enjoy his rest in satisfaction and quiet. 
The thought intended is not pity for a poor ill-used 
beast, but pleasure at the ample provision made for 
it, and its evident enjoyment of its portion. 

This symbol at once suggests agricultural life and 
pursuits. Issachar shall be the rural tribe, given to 
agricultural work, and becoming the farming tribe 
of Israel. His people shall be marked by a devo- 
tion to the tillage of the field, by a love for the 
fruitful soil. They shall successfully cultivate the 
land. The symbolic beast of burden marks their 
great agency in this noble lifework. Their labors 
shall be crowned with success. Rich harvest shall 
reward their toil. Their barns shall be filled. 
Their beasts of burden shall be well fed and repose 
in quietness and ease. Happy rural life and suc- 
cessful agricultural toil are well represented by the 
beast that knows his master's crib, and rejoices in 
his comfortable stall. Labor and rest, contentment 
and abundance, quiet and happy homes, these are 
features of the picture in which Issachar appears. 

II. — issachar's land 

The inheritance of Issachar was the farming por- 
tion of Israel's land. The richest soil was his. 



94 JACOB'S SONS 

The harvest fields were pre-eminently his. His 
was the portion that responded with largest yield 
to the ripping plow and the scattered grain. Surely 
Issachar had no reason to complain of his noble 
and suitable inheritance. After Zebulun is settled, 
the next to draw his lot and find his home is 
Issachar. He draws, and by his lot is assigned to 
a section adjoining Zebulun, and immediately south 
of that friendly tribe. Issachar's inheritance corre- 
sponds with what is known as the plain of 
Esdraelon, or, as it is sometimes called, the Valley 
of Jezreel. Jezreel is the Hebrew word, and 
Esdraelon is the Greek word, the meaning of which 
is " God's Planting." We lose many valuable les- 
sons and suggestions by not knowing the meaning 
of these old Bible names. Untranslated, they are 
often mines of treasure unopened, unexplored. 

Josephus, one of the coldest and least emotional 
of writers, whose pen emits no spark of fire, to 
whom enthusiasm is well-nigh a stranger, as he 
writes of Esdraelon's Plain grows, for him, some- 
what enthusiastic as he says that a man needs only 
to gaze upon the lovely plain of Esdraelon to be in 
love with agricultural pursuits. Happily indeed 
the beautiful plain is called '* God's Planting." 
Man may break up his fallow, cast abroad his grain, 
cultivate his soil, but God only can garnish earth 
with such exquisite loveliness as luxuriates in the 
great valley of Jezreel. Let us in imagination visit 



JACOB'S SONS 95 

this beautiful and productive valley, mark its bound- 
aries, descry its beauties, and learn its fitness for the 
tribe that to it was divinely led. 

The Holy Land, as it has now so long been called, 
is a strip of country about 140 miles long, north 
and south, by about 40 miles wide, east and west. 
It narrows considerably toward the north. It is 
hemmed in on the west by the Mediterranean Sea, 
on the east by the deep valley of the Jordan and the 
seas which it connects. It is essentially a hill coun- 
try. In the main it is one ridge of hills extending 
north and south. This central ridge dips gently 
westward toward the sea, but suddenly and pre- 
cipitately eastward toward the Jordan. The west- 
ern slope gradually merges into the plains of Phi- 
listia and Sharon, whose sandy shores touch the 
western waves; the eastern dip rapidly descends 
into the Jordan gorge. Longitudinally we have 
the seaboard plain, the central mountain range, the 
valley of the Jordan. This central ridge is broken 
in one place only, about halfway between its north- 
ern and southern extremities. This only latitudinal 
valley, the one valley that crosses the country east 
and west, this break in the mountain ridge, is the 
plain of Esdraelon, or the great Valley of Jezreel. 
It extends from the Mediterranean to the Jordan. 
On the sea-shore it is very narrow, being a defile 
in the shadow of Carmel. Eastward it gently rises 
and widens for three-fourths of its distance to the 



96 JACOB'S SONS 

Jordan. Here its progress is intercepted by two 
mountains that stand up in the midst of the plain. 
One is Little Hermon, at whose base nestles the vil- 
lage of Endor, where the witch of Endor lived. 
There also is Nain, where the widow's son was 
raised. There too was Shunem, where dwelt the 
Shunammite. The other mountain is Gilboa, on 
whose gentle declivity the royal city of Jezreel was 
built. These two mountains divide the great valley 
into three arms. The southernmost is soon lost 
amid the mountains. The northernmost is small 
and unrenowned. The central is of these three the 
largest, and retains the name of Jezreel. Amid fer- 
tile slopes and luxuriant growth it rapidly descends 
to the deep gorge of Jordan. Passing down 
through it, there on the right of Gilboa is the beauti- 
ful city of Jezreel ; on the left on Little Hermon is 
Shunem; in front is the city of Bethshean, an 
island of beauty in a sea of foliage and flowers. 
The river Kishon and the brook Bethshean irrigate, 
wash, and drain this mighty plain. 

Issachar's symbol directs attention to the moun- 
tain walls that enclose this valley. On the north 
the mountains of Zebulun present an unbroken line 
of barriers to the extended plain. The tallest of 
them all, just over against Little Hermon and Gil- 
boa, is Tabor, where the northern armies gathered 
to overlook this plain. On the south the moun- 
tains of Manasseh stand to mark sharply the bound- 



JACOB'S SONS 97 

aries of the plain. Amid their spurs rests the city 
of Megiddo, Hke a queen on her throne surveying 
her fair domain. Such in its physical features is 
the great Valley of Jezreel. 

Who is it we see dwelling in these lowlands of 
loveliness and plenty, dwelling in contentment be- 
tween the towering mountains on the north and 
the towering mountains on the south, dwelling in 
this only great valley of Israel's land? Who is it? 
The men of Issachar, strong, stalwart men, of whom 
Jacob has said they shall couch between the borders 
and rest in the profusion of their luxuries. Here 
are the mountain borders, here the delightful place 
of rest and plenty. "And he saw that rest was 
good, and the land that it was pleasant." If a 
glimpse at such an attractive scene stirred the un- 
sentimental soul of Josephus, if the record of its 
charms kindles any admiration in the reader, what 
must have been the effect of dwelling there? Is- 
sachar saw that the land was pleasant, and im- 
mediately couched between its borders and dwelt 
in contentment there. 



III. ISSACHAR S MEN 

If the land was a farm, the owners and dwellers 
must have come to be farmers, the tillers of the fer- 
tile soil. Agricultural scenes abound in the Bible. 
After the settlement of the tribes in Canaan we need 



98 JACOB'S SONS 

not be surprised to find that many of these rural 
scenes of peace, plenty, and honest toil are fur- 
nished by the Valley of Jezreel, and illustrate the 
character of Issachar. From a general survey of 
the plain, let us visit some of these homes of Is- 
sachar. The people to whom we come may be 
those whom in story we long have known. But it 
may be new to trace their tribal feature and to meet 
them in their tribal home. Beginning at the Jordan 
limit of Issachar's inheritance and proceeding west- 
ward through the fertile plain, we shall trace the 
noted homes and people that have made the tribe 
renowned, not forgetting to mention the symbol 
which marks each homestead and the people dwell- 
ing there. 

I. Elisha. — ^Just as we start, just where the Jez- 
reel and the Jordan valleys merge, where their fer- 
tility is mingled, is found EHsha's home. He is a 
young man now. He cultivates the land on which 
he was born. He has been no wanderer. Why 
should he have been a wanderer ? He saw the land, 
that it was pleasant. His earliest home was the 
garden spot of Canaan. The name of his place is 
Abel Meholah, " the Meadow of the Dance." It is 
rich meadow-land. We reach the place to find that 
Elisha himself, though a man of means, is not 
ashamed to toil. He has at once a dozen plows at 
work, a double team to each. He is himself follow- 
ing the twelfth. While he is at work, the Jordan 



JACOB'S SONS 99 

thundering down its rapids on one side, the brook 
Bethshean gurgling in its course on the other side, 
EHsha hears a call. Elijah, as if he had dropped 
from the clouds, lets fall a mantle on Elisha's 
shoulder. It is a symbolic call to the prophetical of- 
fice. The call is sudden. The call is strong. The 
rich young man of Issachar leaves his aged parents, 
leaves his fertile meadow, leaves his riches, leaves 
the home he fondly loves, leaves the pursuit to 
which he was devoted, and dedicates himself to 
what proved to be a hard, laborious service in the 
cause of God. 

2. The Shunammite. — On the side of Little Her- 
mon, near its base, is the village of Shunem. In a 
little nook at the foot of the mountain, encircled by 
cheerful gardens and luxuriant fields of corn, there 
lives a great farmer of Issachar. His pious wife 
delights to entertain Elisha, the man of God, as 
from time to time he passes along that way. The 
hospitable man at the suggestion of his wife builds 
a prophet's chamber for Elisha. In it a bed, a 
table, a stool, a candle-stick. Simply, yet amply 
furnished, it meets every need. In return for such 
kindness Elisha asked if he might not confer a 
favor on the farmer and his wife by mentioning 
them to the king, or to the captain of Israel's host. 
Now mark the answer: *' I dwell among mine 
own people." Couching in contentment, he saw 
that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant. 



100 JACOB'S SONS 

He was very much obliged, but he did not need 
anything. Contented home! 

One day the only son of this farmer went out 
to his father to the reapers on the broad fields of 
harvest. The heat was for the youth too great. 
He was prostrated by it. He cried to his father: 
"My head! My head!" And he said, "Carry 
him to his mother." Some of the reapers stopped 
their work and carried the unconscious lad to his 
mother. He sat on her knees till noon, and died. 
At her command the ass was saddled. Swiftly she 
rode over Esdraelon's plain, to Carmel by the sea, 
where the prophet was. Elisha : " Is it well with 
thee? thy husband? child?" She: "It is well." 
When Elisha heard of her deep sorrow he said to 
Gehazi, ." Go with her and lay this rod upon the 
child." "No," said she, "I will not go without 
thee." So the prophet went, and raised to life the 
Shunammite's child, and brought joy once more 
into the family of the man of Issachar. 

3. Naboth. — Naboth lived and farmed on the out- 
skirts of the royal city of Jezreel, just opposite 
Shunem, on Mount Gilboa. His circumstances 
were pecuHar. He had a troublesome neighbor. 
That neighbor was his king. King Ahab's capital 
was at Samaria. But like many other kings, for 
him one palace was not enough. The fairest, most 
beautiful, most attractive spot in all the land must 
be his. Where shall that be? He decides to build 



JACOB'S SONS 101 

a new palace in the valley of Jezreel. He makes 
the happiest selection of a site. He builds on the 
brow of Mount Gilboa, the mountain that stands 
in the midst of Jezreel's valley. Here he builds a 
tower, a watch-tower. It was from this tower years 
afterwards that the watchman, looking down to- 
ward Jordan, said, " I see a company." A mes- 
senger is sent to meet it. Watchman : " He came 
unto them, but cometh not. The driving is like the 
driving of Jehu; he driveth furiously." The king 
said, " Make ready." King Ahab built also an ivory- 
palace at Jezreel, a beautiful, glorious, and splendid 
building. He beautified the palace grounds. All 
was fair enough to please a king. 

There was one thing that sadly marred the 
pleasure of the king in his splendid palace and royal 
grounds. There was a vineyard in his way — a 
little farm owned and tilled and occupied by Naboth, 
a man of Issachar. The subject's farm marred the 
symmetry and beauty of the palace grounds. So 
thought the king. The king wished the farm. His 
first offer, it may be, was fair enough. It implied 
the farmer's right to hold his own. " Give it to me, 
and I will give you a better vineyard, or its worth 
in money." What said the true son of Issachar to 
his king? ''As for the money, I should rather have 
the land. As for the better vineyard, this one suits 
me. It is mine. God forbid that I should part 
with my inheritance." Couching down between the 



102 JACOBUS SONS 

borders, he saw that rest was good, and the land 
that it was pleasant. The contented farmer this 
son of Issachar surely was. He did not feel at all 
incommoded by having a royal neighbor. 

Crossed in his purpose, the feeble-minded Ahab 
went to bed and lost his appetite. The farmer con- 
tinued to dwell in happiness, content to till his 
ground. With admirable resoluteness he main- 
tained his right and held his home. But unequal 
was the contest between the subject and his king. 
At last it cost Naboth his life. False witnesses are 
sworn. They testify that Naboth had blasphemed 
his God. From his cottage of comfort and con- 
tentment he is dragged. He is stoned to death. 
His family is turned out. The rich King Ahab, 
who lived in an ivory palace, added the little farm 
on which the family of Issachar had happily dwelt 
to his own royal gardens and ample palace grounds. 

IV. — issachar's troubles 

" He bowed his shoulder to bear ; He became a 
servant to tribute." AH professions and employ- 
ments have their trials and difficulties. Every man 
knows best what burdens rest on his shoulders and 
wherein he becomes a servant to tribute. No man 
should think that because he knows these things so 
well other callings are exempt from sharp trials. 
There is a burden for every man's shoulders to bear. 
There is a servitude to tribute for every man. 



JACOB'S SONS 103 

Issachar had a rich inheritance— and great mis- 
fortunes too. Blessed with a choice portion of land, 
possessors, contented possessors of the lovely and 
fertile plain, yet this tribe of Issachar suffered per- 
haps more than any other tribe. He bowed his 
shoulder to bear, and became a servant to tribute. 
His was a hard ^ot. His lovely valley was Israel's 
battlefield. Fair scene, beautiful valley, waving 
with grain, clothed in richest verdure, calm and 
quiet as the arching skies that form its canopy, pic- 
ture of peace, its history is written in letters of 
blood. The four most momentous battles of Israel's 
history were fought on this lovely plain; two for 
Israel glorious victories; two, signal, disastrous de- 
feats. 

1. Barak's Victory over Sisera. — Sisera the gen- 
eral poured his soldiers down into this plain. 
Barak marshaled his ten thousand men against 
them. A storm of sleet and hail bursting on the 
plain drove full in the faces of the Canaanites. The 
floods of rain descended, and the Kishon rose, over- 
flowed its banks, and swept the Canaanites away. 
It was on the occasion of this victory that Deborah 
sang her memorable Ode of Triumph. 

2. Gideon's Victory over the Midianites. — The 
Midianites camped in the Valley of Jezreel. 
Gideon sounds the note of war. Soldiers flock to 
his standard. His camp is on Gilboa. Thirty-two 
thousand men respond to his trumpet call. There 



104 JACOB'S SONS 

are too many. Those who fear go away. Ten 
thousand are left. There are too many. They 
drink at the Spring of Harod. Those that lap the 
water are chosen — three hundred men against the 
uncounted thousands. Like the Spartan band of 
Leonidas at Thermopylae, these three hundred war- 
riors put the host of Midian to flight. 

3. Saul's Defeat. — On this same ground King 
Saul marshals the armies of Israel and fights his 
last battle. The Philistines camp on Little Har- 
mon. Israel is on Gilboa. iSaul's brave heart 
somehow is trembling. He is afraid. God has 
forsaken him. He stands, he feels, alone. The 
prophets have left him. His best counselors have 
turned their faces from him now. What shall he 
do? He goes under covert of darkness to the 
witch of Endor's cave. Oh, what a change ! What 
a sad descent! To her: " Call me up Samuel." But 
his destiny is carved. His ruin is wrought. It is 
too late. His army flees. He falls on his sword, 
and with his blood stains Jezreel's soil. Israel's 
standard goes down in dire disaster and defeat, 

4. Josiah's Defeat. — The king of Egypt marches 
against Assyria. All he asks of Israel is un- 
molested to pass up the seaboard plain, around 
Carmel, and over the Valley of Jezreel, to his 
destination in the east. But Josiah forbids his pass- 
age. King of Egypt: "What have I to do with 
thee, thou King of Judah? " Josiah posted troops 



JACOBUS SONS 105 

at the city of Megiddo, in the plain, so as to attack 
and defeat Pharaoh's armies as they made attempt 
to pass. But the archers of Egypt gave Josiah a 
fatal wound, and another and better king goes 
down on Israel's plain. Long and sincerely and 
profoundly Israel mourned the good Josiah's fall. 
It was the saddest defeat that Israel ever suffered. 
The bright hopes of better days that centered in 
good Josiah's life and reign suddenly went down in 
the darkness of despair. Henceforth greatest sor- 
row was likened to the mourning in the Valley of 
Megiddo. 

5. A Coming Battle. — Well might profoundest 
feelings be aroused by the battle of Megiddo. The 
scene of the illustrious victories of Barak and 
Gideon was now overcast with the terrible dis- 
asters of Saul and Josiah. Here was seen the 
beginning of the end, when the crown should be 
plucked from David's line. Hence the mystic 
significance which surrounds the name of this battle- 
field. The seer of Patmos, John the Divine, reared 
on the borders of this battlefield, familiar with its 
history, employs the scene of Israel's most signal 
defeats by their bitterest enemies, the Philistines 
and Egyptians, for the great coming conflict of 
Armageddon, a city of Megiddo, which will avenge 
all such defeats by the final overthrow of all earthly 
powers that oppose the Kingdom of the Lord. 



VIII 

DAN 

" Dan shall judge his people, 
As one of the tribes of Israel. 
Dan shall be a serpent by the way, 
An adder in the path, 
That biteth the horse heels, 
So that his rider shall fall backward. 
I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord." 

— Gen. 49: 16-18. 

The last sentence of this blessing some construe 
as an ejaculation of the patriarch. Having com- 
pleted Dan's blessing, he is supposed in these words 
to have given vent to his ov^n experience, and to 
have expressed his welcome to the signal of his own 
release. There are reasons, however, for suppos- 
ing that this language is a part of Dan's blessing. 
There is certainly good reason for thinking that 
the tribe of Dan so considered it. This will ap- 
pear as we proceed in this tribal study. 



I. TRIBAL SYMBOL 

Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder 
106 



JACOB'S SONS 107 

in the path." A venomous serpent about the color 
of the sand in the footpath or way of travel is effec- 
tually concealed. From its place of concealment 
it plung'es its envenomed fang into the horse's heels, 
and the unsuspecting rider is dismounted. The 
horned serpent, to which Jacob is thought here to 
refer, sometimes hides itself in the sand, leaving 
only its two hornlike protuberances above the sur- 
face. These do the effective work. Dan shall be 
a serpent by the way, an adder in the path. 

The symbolic meaning may readily be traced. 
There is a general human antipathy to the ser- 
pent of every kind. Between man and the serpent 
there is deep-seated enmity. But the significance 
of the serpent is not altogether bad. In many ser- 
pents there is great beauty, which we might see and 
appreciate and admire if we could only get rid of 
certain thoughts and associations always suggested 
by the serpent kind. The serpent represents great 
subtlety. The Bible so teaches: the serpent is the 
most subtle beast of the field. It is the cunning 
beast. Dan is the cunning tribe. Dan was always 
more noted for craft than for courage. A war- 
like tribe, whose warfare was rendered illustrious 
not so much by valorous deeds as by strategic skill, 
cunning design, successful ambush, ingenious 
maneuver. Always Dan is the adder in the path, 
springing from unnoticed coil on unwary traveler. 



io8 JACOB'S SONS 

II. ^TRIBAL RANK 

A serpent in the path cannot safely be ignored. 
Whatever else may remain unnoticed, the venomous 
reptile in the way must have a certain sort of atten- 
tion from those who are passing by. Dan is an 
important tribe and occupies a prominent place in the 
great host of Israel. Jacob's sons are divided into 
four classes, according to their mothers: Leah's 
sons, Rachel's sons, Zilpah's sons, Bilhah's sons. 
Zilpah and Bilhah being servants, their sons 
would be somewhat subordinates. When, there- 
fore, Jacob proceeds to pronounce his parting bless- 
ings on his sons, and appoint them heads of tribes, 
and give to them severally symbols of prophetic im- 
port, the question doubtless arises in the minds of 
the expectant group what rank the subordinate sons 
shall hold, and how it shall be with their tribes. 
Certainly the servants' sons in eagerness await their 
father's notice and his decisive words. Will their 
portions and their destinies fall short of what is 
pronounced on the others ? Leah's sons one by one 
have come at their father's call. The trembling 
hands of Jacob have rested on each of them, and 
their destinies have been pronounced. Now Dan 
is called. Dan is Bilhah's son. Bilhah is Rachel's 
maid. Here is a test case. Shall the servant's son 
inherit equally with the proud sons of Leah ? Will 
there be no discrimination in favor of Leah and 



JACOB'S SONS 109 

Rachel, against Zilpah and Bilhah? Jacob reads 
their thoughts. His words answer their unspoken 
questions. " Dan shall judge his people as one of 
the tribes of Israel." That settles the question of 
rank. This does not mean that Dan in any special 
sense shall judge the other tribes. His tribe is not 
to be distinctively a tribe of judges, though one of 
the most famous judges belonged to this tribe. But 
the meaning is Dan in no way shall come behind 
the other sons. He shall judge his tribe, just as 
each of Leah's sons shall judge his tribe. There is 
to be no inherent subordination. Here also comes 
to notice Jacob's favorite rhetorical figure. Dan 
m,eans Judge. Judge shall judge his tribe as a 
tribe. Though he is a servant's son, his presence 
shall not be ignored. Let all be warned: a serpent 
by the way, an adder in the path. Let none tread 
on his rights. There are several historical illustra- 
tions of this high rank of Dan. 

First.- — There is numerical importance. Num- 
bers make the tribe of Dan one of the foremost 
tribes of Israel. At Sinai and at Jordan, where 
the two reckonings were made, with a fearful wil- 
derness and forty dreary years between, Dan holds 
the second place. The same steadiness which se- 
cures to Judah constant pre-eminence and makes 
him first always, secures to Dan the uniformity of 
second place in the mighty host. This high rank 
of numbers is the more remarkable in view of the 



no JACOB'S SONS 

fact that he is in age the fifth of Jacob's sons. 
Also, his own immediate family seems to have been 
quite small. Only one son of Dan is mentioned. 
Under the divine blessing the tribe of Dan at Sinai 
numbers 62,700, and at Jordan 64,400. 

Second. — There is official importance. The camp 
of Israel was arranged with great precision to 
minute detail. In it military order reigned. It 
was rectilinear, somewhat longer east and west than 
north and south. The central object of the camp 
was Jehovah's Tent. About the Tabernacle and its 
rectilinear court all the camp was formed. Nearest 
the court, on its four sides, were the priests — the 
Kohathites, the Gershonites, and the Merarites. 
Outside of these were Israel's four great camps. 
One camp of three tribes on each side. These 
four camps bore the names severally of their lead- 
ing tribes. These four commanding tribes were 
Judah, Ephraim, Reuben, and Dan. Judah's camp 
was composed wholly of Leah's sons. Ephraim's 
wholly of Rachel's sons. Reuben's partly of Leah's 
and partly of Zilpah's sons. Dan's wholly of ser- 
vants' sons. This was a distinguished honor con- 
ferred on Dan to be commander of one- fourth of 
the host of Israel. In the march, while the great 
tribe of Judah led the van, the great tribe of Dan 
covered the rear of the pilgrim line. 

Third. — There is religious importance. The 
three great families of Levi were apportioned 



JACOB'S SONS III 

among the tribes after their settlement in Canaan 
according to rank, the most honorable family to the 
most important tribes. Of the forty-eight Levitical 
cities, the tribe of Dan had four, and to these 
four were assigned members of the family of 
Kohath, the most honored class of Levites. This 
high sacred honor Dan shared with Judah, Benja- 
min, Ephraim, and Manasseh. 

Fourth. — There is the importance of inheritance. 
Dan was the last tribe to be settled. What matters 
that? It makes no difference in what order God 
bestows His blessings. The last is often first, and 
the first is last. Though he was the last, no other 
tribe could take the portion God marked out for 
Dan. It is true the portion was very small and the 
numbers were very great, but the lot possessed emi- 
nent advantages and was ample for the mighty 
tribe. It was one of a noble cluster oi tribes. It 
adjoined Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. 

Dan's inheritance was Shephelah — the lowlands, 
the seaboard plain — a very productive portion of the 
land. From Judah's hills it sloped gently to the 
sea, enriched yearly by dressing from, the hills. 
Year by year it produced prodigious crops of grain. 
More than other portions of the land it has retained 
its fertility to this day. For forty centuries its 
fields have waved with grain. To this inheritance 
Dan is led. Surrounding plenty welcomes him to 
his tribal home. The names that make his lot 



112 JACOB'S SONS 

familiar to us, as places that are well known and 
found within the borders of his inheritance, are 
Joppa, Ekron, and Aijalon. 



III. ^TRIBAL CHARACTER 

The symbol not only marks the important rank 
of Dan, but designates his character. The subtle 
serpent: The subtle tribe. Dan is the cunning 
tribe. Cunning has its good and bad development. 
Dan evinces both. Let us note how these traits 
crop out in the history of this tribe. 

First. — There is a strategic movement of the 
tribe. The tribe found no fault with the character 
of their inheritance. Though small, it was large 
enough and rich enough for them; but one serious, 
difficulty was encountered by them, with which 
their tribal character unfitted them to cope. To 
their settlement the Philistines offered stout and 
resolute resistance. It was too good a home to be 
readily surrendered. The Philistines drove the 
men of Dan from Shephelah up to the hills, and 
compelled them there to stay. The Philistines were 
great warriors. Their open warfare did not suit 
the serpent tribe. Instead of boldly buckling on 
their armor, raising aloft their standard, and 
bravely driving back the aggressive hordes of 
Philistines, the men of Dan pursued a very different 
course, more in keeping with the symbol of the tribe. 



JACOB'S SONS 113 

They send out five spies to view the land, to find 
a better place, where an easier settlement might 
be made. The spies travel northward, gliding in 
and out, here and there, unsuspected and observant. 
They come at length to Mount Ephraim, to the 
home of a certain man named Micah. Here a 
strange story is told and recorded; a strange pic- 
ture is presented to our view. 

Micah of Mount Ephraim had stolen eleven hun- 
dred shekels of silver from his mother. She, the 
silver being gone out of sight and out of hand, 
devoted it to Jehovah to make a graven and a 
molten image, if it should be ever found. One 
unworthy step was the thought of worshiping the 
living God by forbidden images. Not less un- 
worthy was the dedication to Jehovah of what was 
lost. Micah confessed his theft and brought back 
the money, all the eleven hundred shekels of silver. 
The woman, who had been so free to give what 
was not in hand, then dedicated to her religious 
purpose not eleven hundred shekels, but two^ hun- 
dred shekels. They seemed far more precious 
when recovered. The images were made and duly 
set up in Micah's house. 

The next thing was to have a priest, a household 
chaplain, in the rural mansion. It chanced just 
then that a Levite passed that way. His name is 
Jonathan, a grandson of Moses. Micah hired him 
for ten shekels a year, with food and clothes. 



114 JACOB'S SONS 

At this house and at this juncture the spies of 
Dan arrive. They are attracted by hearing the 
voice of a Levite in the Ephraimite's home. The 
Ephraimite had a pecuHar hsp. He could not pro- 
nounce " sh/' but substituted for it " s." Shibbo- 
leth he called Sibboleth. In contrast with this the 
Levite's voice was noticed. The Levite professes 
to consult the Lord on the spies' behalf, to learn 
how it would fare with them, and obtains for them 
a favorable response^ — and advises them to go on. 
They went to the extreme northern limit of the land. 
Their impressions may best be learned from the 
report they made on their return. " Arise, let us 
go up. We hatve seen the land. Behold, it is 
very good. Are ye still? When ye go, ye shall 
come to a people secure and to a large land, a 
place where there is no want of anything that is 
in earth." Moved by this appeal, a great colony of 
Danites leave their southern home and migrate to 
the north. As they passed the house of Micah at 
Mount Ephraim they stole his carved image and 
enticed his priest away by an offer of rich rewards. 
Onward they move, till they come to the city of 
Laish in the far north. This city by strategy they 
take, ere its people have time to call their allies or 
give alarm. The name of the city is changed to 
Dan. Within it they set up the stolen image and 
establish a sanctuary for themselves. All the while 
that Israel's tabernacle stood at Shiloh there was 



JACOB'S SONS IIS 

this tribal shrine at Dan. The family of Jonathan, 
continued to be priests of Dan till the great cap- 
tivity. 

This whole scheme evinces craftiness and sub- 
tlety, and is worthy of the tribe whose symbol was 
a serpent by the way, an adder in the path. Thus 
this great tribe was divided, part in the far south, 
part in the extreme north. The southern inherit- 
ance was the Shephelah. What shall we say of 
the northern settlement? 

This northern Dan became one of Israel's great 
landmarks. It gave form to the familiar phrase, 
"From Dan to Beersheba." In this new settle- 
ment the Jordan takes its rise. The Jordan is a 
remarkable river. Rather than a river, it is a 
water connection between four lakes or inland seas. 
These four waters are the Source, Lake Merom, 
Gennesaret, the Dead Sea. The northern Dan ex- 
tends from the Source to Merom. The fountain 
where the Jordan begins its course is said to be 
the largest single source of water in the world. 
Out of it the Jordan flows, at once a river, forming 
the eastern boundary O'f D^n, till it merges its 
waters with the waters of Merom. 

Second. — There is a cunning evinced by indi- 
vidual men of the tribe of Dan. The tribe pro- 
duced three great men. Their eminence is wrought 
by cunning — in a good rather than an evil sense. 
These three heroes represent the tribe in the three 



ii6 JACOB'S SONS 

great epochs of its history, each one standing up 
as if it show; how true the tribe ever was to the 
symbol which Jacob gave. 

1. Aholiab, the hero of the wilderness, a man 
of Dan, possessed great skill as a weaver and em- 
broiderer, and was appointed to erect the Taber- 
nacle. There was exquisite work to be done. A 
cunning workman must be provided. The Lord 
called Aholiab by name and appointed him to teach 
exquisite art. " Him hath He filled with wisdom 
of heart, to work all manner of work of the en- 
graver, and of the cunning workman, and of the 
embroiderer in blue, in purple, and in scarlet, and 
in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that 
do any work, and of those that devise cunning 
work." "Every curtain that gracefully hung from 
the pillars of the Tabernacle, every veil that shielded 
its portals, every festoon of embroidery that beauti- 
fied the House of God, was a witness to the con- 
summate skill and cunning of Aholiab, the man of 
Dan. 

2. Hiram, the architect, was the hero of the tribe 
in the splendid days of royalty. Hiram is con- 
nected with the Temple work. The Temple, the 
admiration of ages, having a splendor and a glory 
never surpassed, has rendered illustrious Hiram's 
name. The noblest contribution which the Tyrian 
king made to Solomon's Temple was not cedars and 
fir trees, but Hiram the architect. Let us see just 



JACOB'S SONS 117 

who this Hiram was. He came from Tyre. His 
mother was a widow of Naphtali; elsewhere called 
a daughter of the tribe of Dan. The simple solu- 
tion of this complicated statement is that she was a 
woman of Dan, married a Naphtalite, left a widow, 
and afterwards married a man of Tyre, to whom 
was bom Hiram the architect. By reason of his 
great natural talents and his acquired skill he was 
appointed to superintend the execution of all works 
of art in the erection of the Temple. The master- 
pieces of his art were the two pillars of cast brass, 
Jachin and Boaz, which stood on each side the 
porch in front of the Holy Place. Their dimen- 
sions were 32^ feet high, 7 feet diameter, 3J inches 
thick. Their weight was twenty tons of brass. 
In the letter of introduction which Hiram the king 
wrote to Solomon, and which was conveyed by 
Hiram the architect, are these words : " And now I 
have sent a cunning man, the son of a woman of 
the daughter of Dan." That the king had not mis- 
calculated the man nor overestimated his cunning 
the far-famed glories of Solomon's Temple are an 
enduring proof. 

3. Samson, the judge, is the hero of Dan in 
Israel's iron age. As Aholiab represents the undi- 
vided tribe, and Hiram the northern division, so 
Samson represents the southern Dan, that never 
migrated from their original inheritance. Samson 
is the synonym of strength — strength evinced in 



ii8 JACOB'S SONS 

cunning. What shall we say of Samson? How- 
shall we estimate so strange a man? How shall 
we delineate his strange character? His life is a 
greater puzzle than his own famous riddle pro- 
pounded at the marriage feast. His birth was an- 
nounced by angels, yet his career was a wretched 
failure. He was virtuous, yet vicious; physically 
strong, yet morally weak. His life is a tragedy, 
yet a comedy. In some scenes he is absolutely 
ludicrous; in others sad enough to melt to tears. 
He was endowed with powers that might have 
rescued his people from groaning bondage tO' Philis- 
tia. These great powers he fritters away amid 
feasts and amusements and in ridiculous exploits. 
But in all these strange and inconsistent features 
of his life there is one thing that never deserts him 
— he is cunning always, everywhere. Whether he 
proposes his riddle, or, losing his bet, provides his 
wager in a most remarkable manner; whether he is 
tying the firebrands to the jackals' tails or turning 
them loose in his enemies' fields, or sporting with 
the green withes, or carrying off the gates of 
Gaza, he is cunning in all. 

He is cunning in his death. A poor captive, 
blind, shorn of strength, grinding at the Philistine 
mill, he is brought out to afford merriment to the 
Philistine lords in the temple of Dagon on a feast 
day. Tradition says he uttered the war cry of his 
tribe : " I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord." 



JACOB'S SONS 119 

The Bible says that he bowed himself with all his 
might, and the house fell on all the lords, and all 
the people that were therein. So that they whom 
he slew at his death were more than they whom he 
slew in his life. The Scripture says Samson by 
faith put to flight the aliens. 



IV. TRIBAL DESTINY 

The serpent is an ominous symbol. It may sug- 
gest wisdom, cunning, skill. But it has other sug- 
gestions too-; suggestions that are portentous of 
gloom, sin, ruin, death. In this line of thought 
the history of Dan is short. Though very brief, 
it responds very clearly tO' the symbol's call. 

For the sake of worldly ease and affluence, Dan 
left his early inheritance — an inheritance hard to 
possess, yet honorable and worthy of the effort to 
secure. It was in the circle of greatest honor, of 
noblest tribes, near the Sanctuary, close to Mount 
Zion. These privileges he held as slight, in view of 
the ease and affluence to which Jordan's source in- 
vited. He gave up a religious inheritance for a 
worldly portion. A second wrong step became easy 
by being second. He sets up stolen gods to orna- 
ment his home and quiet conscience. The third 
wrong step easily followed. When Jeroboam re- 
volts and sets up a new kingdom and introduces 
new worship, he makes two golden calves; sets up 



120 JACOB'S SONS 

one at Bethel — where shall the other be? Of 
course at Dan. " The rebel king doubled that sin 
in Bethel and in Dan, Likening his Maker to the 
grazed ox/' 

Such apostasy bears fruit. The serpent wrought 
ruin in Eden and war in heaven between Michael 
and the old Serpent. The serpent is cast out of 
heaven. For it there is no place. Lo, now behold 
the sealing of God's chosen ones. — 144,000. All 
the tribes are mentioned one by one, but Dan. His 
name is not there. The apostate tribe — there is no 
representative of it among the sealed in heaven. 

Great privileges, bright prospects, honorable 
place! But these are despised, rejected, trampled 
down. Dan turns his back on the Sanctuary of 
God, ceases tO' frequent God's house, abandons God's 
worship, loses his inheritance in the Canaan above. 
His name was called. He did not answer. Then 
when he waited, listening for the call, his name was 
no longer mentioned. He heard no call. 



IX 

GAD 

" Gad, a troop shall overcome him: 
But he shall overcome at the last." 

— ^Gen. 49: 19. 

Gad is a servant^s son. He Is the son of Zil- 
pah, Leah's maid. He is full brother of Asher, 
with whom, however, he is not so much associated 
as with Reuben. For some reason the oldest son 
of Leah and the oldest son of Leah's maid are inti- 
mately joined. The patriarch's blessing on Gad is 
very brief. But there is in its few words a very 
full alliteration, which in the English version does 
not appear. In the Hebrew verse there are just 
six words. In these six words " Gad " occurs four 
times. Gad means troop. To preserve somewhat 
the repetition of the original, the verse may be 
rudely rendered: "Troop, a troop shall out-troop 
him; but he shall out-troop at the last." 

I. THE SYMBOL OF GAD 

By this remarkable repetition of the word the 
symbol is thrust upon our notice. A troop is the 
symbol of the tribe of Gad. Not a company of 

121 



122 JACOB'S SONS 

disciplined soldiers, well drilled, well commanded, 
engaged in regular warfare, and fighting according 
to well-approved tactics; but Gad is a marauding, 
plundering band. Gather together such a band of 
men, with hearts brave as the bravest, unknown 
to fear, with hands ready for deeds of daring, ex- 
hilarated rather than depressed by impending dan- 
gers, reckless of life, true friends, bitter foes — this 
is the sort of troop that represents the tribe of Gad. 
Gad is in some features like the chivalric knight of 
the Middle Ages, who, placing his sword upon the 
altar, swears to maintain right against might, and 
never by word or deed to stain his character as 
knight or Christian. The weak point with this 
troop of Gad is that, with all his nobility, heroism, 
chivalry, and valor, there is with the man of Gad 
a certain wildness and irregularity which justify 
the designation of his troop as a plundering and 
marauding band. There is muscle enough, and 
courage enough, for any exploit ; but there is want- 
ing a cool, deliberate judgment which wisely directs 
exploits, conducts them to successful issue, and 
makes them subserve the general good. We see 
the valorous troop, swift as the roe upon the moun- 
tain, speed out of sight. One thing we know; we 
shall hear of them again in deeds of daring and 
exploit. One thing we do not know; whether the 
heroic deed shall be for good or ill, for weal or 
woe. 



JACOB'S SONS 123 

The meaning of the symbol is readily traced: 
Valor, severely tried, triumphant in the end. Hence 
we may thus express the subject of this study — 
Gad, the valorous tribe. Dan was noted for craft, 
cunning*, artifice. Gad is famous for valor; open, 
outright, reckless. So sharp a contrast is there 
between these men. The character of the tribe of 
Gad is very fully delineated and very clearly drawn 
throughout their whole career. None of the tribes 
have their tribal features more faithfully and viv- 
idly portrayed than Gad, the trooper. 



II. TUB LAND OF GAD 

In the light of this symbol look at the land of 
Gad. The character of his inheritance is in closest 
keeping with the trooper. It perfectly suits his 
needs, and develops his propensity. The Valley of 
Jezreel, which Issachar found so pleasant to his 
sight and so delightful as a home, would never have 
suited this marauding tribe. Shephelah, where Dan 
might well have been pleased to dwell, would have 
had slight charms for the troopers of the tribe of 
Gad. What Gad needs is a place where he may 
practice predatory warfare — ^wild, reckless, brave. 
He received the famous land of Gilead. Let us 
note its features. 

I. Location of Gilead. — Gilead lies east of Jor- 
dan. It is not properly within the land of Canaan. 



124 JACOB'S SONS 

Canaan is properly the country between the River 
Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea. If from the 
source of the Jordan to the southern Hmit of the 
Dead Sea east of Jordan we divide the country into 
three nearly equal sections by lines running east 
and west, the southern section will be Moab, the 
northern Bashan, the middle Gilead. Moab is 
Reuben's home. Bashan is the home of half 
Manasseh. Gilead is the home of Gad. It is the 
country east of Jordan, extending from the south- 
ern limit of Gennesaret to the northern limit of the 
Dead Sea. It extends eastward some twenty-five 
miles, the eastern border being not sharply defined. 
" Is there no balm in Gilead ? Is there no physician 
there?" 

2. The Reason of Gad's Settlement There. — Reu- 
ben and Gad, half-brothers, seem to have been 
drawn into very close alliance and to have been 
somewhat alike in their pursuits. Looking down 
on the great encampment of Israel, we find Gad 
not in the same camp with Asher, his whole 
brother, but on the opposite side of the Sanctuary 
in the camp of Reuben. Between these two tribes 
there is a remarkable coincidence of numbers. 
They are nearer the same size than any other two 
tribes of Israel. Reuben, 46,500; Gad, 45,650. 
Another coincidence is oneness of pursuit. Theirs 
was the same occupation. Of all the sons of Jacob 
these two tribes alone returned to the land which 



JACOB'S SONS 125 

their forefathers had left years before, with their 
occupations unchanged. When from Canaan Jacob 
and his sons went down to Egypt, they said to 
Pharaoh : " Thy servants' trade hath been about 
cattle : thy servants are shepherds." They were 
herdsmen and shepherds. Contact with Egypt, 
with its civilization, its persecutions and its varied 
influences, had wrought a great change in the tribes. 
Many years have passed. The mighty host of 
Israel's sons camp on the borders of Canaan. Of 
them all Reuben and Gad alone have adhered to pas- 
toral pursuits and preserved the habits of their race. 
All through the wilderness they brought their cat- 
tle; the lowing of their herds and the bleating of 
their flocks were the music of their march. 

The host of Israel is now camped on the heignts 
of Moab overlooking Jordan, preparing to cross the 
river. A committee of men wait on Moses. They 
have a petition to offer. " This land of Gilead is 
a land for cattle. Thy servants, the men of Reu- 
ben and Gad, have much cattle. If we have found 
grace in thy sight, let us settle here. Bring us 
not over Jordan." At first Moses rebuked them 
sharply, as if they wished to escape the toils and 
perils of conquest. But they soon set themselves 
right before him, by promising that they would 
leave their families and cattle and flocks in their 
new homes, and themselves go over in front of the 
other tribes, fight for them and with them, till their 



126 JACOB'S SONS 

land should be subdued. In this offer we trace 
the heroic valor of the trooper Gad. Moses agreed. 
Gad settled in Gilead. How faithfully he per- 
formed his part of the engagement history fully 
testifies. The conquest being ended, Joshua said 
of them: "The Lord your God hath given rest 
unto your brethren; now therefore get you to your 
tents on the other side of Jordan." To their tents 
they came; to the dangers and delights of the free 
Bedouin life in which they had chosen to remain, 
and of which their subsequent history affords such 
charming glimpses. 

3. The Features of Gilead. — The troopers are 
now at home, in the land of their choice, the lot of 
their inheritance. Gilead is theirs. Let us see 
what sort of country Gilead is. It is large, spa- 
cious, ample; not like the small sections into which 
the country west of Jordan mostly was divided; 
not hemmed in by sharply defined boundaries not 
to be transgressed. Strictly limited by Jordan on 
the west, by Manasseh on the north, and by Reuben 
on the south, the east gave no landmark to forbid 
their predatory expeditions. Theirs is a country 
in which they can freely breathe and largely roam, 
and from which these troopers can go^ on plundering 
missions without treading on their brothers' rights. 

The land of Gilead possessed two physical fea- 
tures. There was the valley on the east of Jordan, 
a narrow, lovely plain by the river-side, a narrow 



JACOBUS SONS 127 

strip of lowland from Gennesaret to the Dead Sea. 
Then there was a precipitate mountain-side, from 
the valley a thousand feet, a steep ascent. By this 
we reach the tableland of Gilead, seemingly tossed 
about in wild confusion — a sea of verdure. Not 
flat, nor tame, but rolling as if the billows of the 
sea by a sudden fiat of Omnipotence had been stayed. 
Noble trees of varied forest growth abound — a 
gorgeous park diversified and beautified by alterna- 
tion of graceful hill, fertile vale, and luxuriant herb- 
age. iWhat needs a trooper more than that? He 
needs not to till the soil. He needs not to build 
a permanent abode. He can follow his cattle and 
flocks. While they graze and are tended, he can 
indulge his wildest fancy and most chimerical de- 
sign. Hence, we find that few cities dot this por- 
tion of the map. It is richer than Bashan; yet, 
while Bashan's hills are crowded with a multitude 
of cities, Gilead is a noble park of primeval growth, 
where cattle graze and flocks gambol and troopers 
wildly roam; but where cities rarely grow and per- 
manent abodes are not so often seen. Gadite and 
Gileadite become interchangeable names. 

III. — THE NEIGHBORS OF GAD 

In the light of this symbol let us look at Gad's 
neighbors. A frontier people must adjust their 
methods, offensive and defensive, to the tactics of 



128 JACOB'S SONS 

thxcir nearest and mightiest foes. Gad is a frontier 
tribe. His eastern borders verge on the heathen 
hordes. There is nothing between him and the 
great outside world, not even a natural boundary 
line. The Ammonites are his neighbors and his 
foes. The Moabites and Ammonites were de- 
scended from Lot. The Moabites, over against 
Reuben, were perhaps the most civilized of all the 
nations with whom in their settlement Israel had 
anything to do. From them came the lovely Ruth, 
the Moabite maiden. But the Ammonites, over 
against Gad, were the wildest, most cruel, most law- 
less, most uncivilized of all Israel's foes. When 
we read of Moab, we read of the plentiful fields, 
the hay, the summer fruits, the vineyards, the wine 
presses, the songs of the harvesters. But in rela- 
tion to the Ammonites, we find constant traces of 
fierce marauders in their wild and reckless excur- 
sions. 

Who is it that wishes to thrust out the right 
eyes of all the citizens of Jabesh Gilead? The 
Ammonite. Who takes the premium for the high- 
est degree of crafty cruelty to foes and friends? 
The Ammonite. While Moab had its streets, its 
housetops, its high places, and its various towers, 
Ammon can point to but one city in all its borders, 
and that a fortress, the fortress Rabbah. 

The religion of the Ammonites, if religion it 
can be termed, points to the same wild and unculti- 



JACOB'S SONS 129 

vated character. Their deity was worshiped not in 
a house or on a high place, but in a booth, a tem- 
porary bower; as if their god, hke themselves, was 
nomadic, wild, and roaming. 

Such was Gad's nearest neighbor, a very trouble- 
some neighbor, as history proves. The method of 
his attacks on Gad, by marauding bands, by plun- 
dering, reckless troopers, tended to develop this 
predilection of the trooping tribe. By Ammon Gad 
was often overcome; but in the end Gad bore his 
standard in triumph, and trampled down these bit- 
ter foes. Gad, a troop shall overcome him : but 
he shall overcome at last. In Gad and Ammon the 
wild troopers meet. For a while destiny wavers in 
the balance; but true tO' the prophetic words of 
Jacob, the sons of Israel triumph in the end. 

IV. THE MEN OF GAD 

In the light of the symbol let us trace the heroes 
of the tribe of Gad. The southron is a southron 
everywhere; is ever marked by the peculiarities of 
the land of his birth, residence, and love. The 
western man is not less distinctly marked. New 
England's sons wear their badge of nativity and 
life. As clearly marked from all others were these 
men of Gad. We have an inspired delineation of 
their character. It seems to have been written in 
the reflected light of Gad's symbol. Here it is: 



I30 JACOB'S SONS 

" Strong men of might, men of war for the battle, 
that could handle shield and buckler, their faces the 
faces of lions, and like roes upon the mountains 
for swiftness." Briefly expressed — a troop. Natu- 
rally enough their heroes are somewhat numerous. 
Let us recall some of them, and with them note their 
symbol. 

I. Jephthah. — ^Jephthah is the chivalric judge of 
Israel, and freebooter of the tribe of Gad. He is 
driven from home by a family feud. He loses not 
his tribal trait by absence, but becomes a wild 
trooper in the land of Job. Gilead is smarting 
under the oppression of the Ammonites. Jephthah 
adopted a kind of life that was unrestrained, adven- 
turous, and insecure, like that of a Scottish chief- 
tain in the Middle Ages. His fame, as a bold, suc- 
cessful plunderer, comes back to his native Gilead. 
He is the man of all others Gilead needs. The 
time being ripe to throw off the Ammonitish yoke, 
the elders of Gilead invite Jephthah home and 
offer him command. Will he come, he who was 
driven away? On one condition he accepts the 
call. If successful, he shall be head over all 
his tribe, ruler of Gad, prince of Gilead. To 
this condition they accede. Jephthah comes. Once 
driven off, he is now invited back, and wel- 
comed too! He comes back home, assumes com- 
mand, and opens correspondence with the king of 
Ammon. War begins; battle brews. The armies 



JACOB'S SONS 131 

approach each other. Ere the conflict is joined this 
wild trooper makes a rash and reckless vow. There 
is a religious vein in his wild nature. Under rough 
exterior beats a heart in which sacred emotions 
play. Hear Jephthah's vow : " Whatsoever cometh 
forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I 
return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall 
surely be Jehovah's, and I will offer it up for a 
burnt offering." 

Israel's standard advances against the foes. The 
troopers' deadly blows are dealt with telling power. 
Ammon is checked, is driven, is put to flight. Gad 
has overcome at the last. The conqueror turns 
homeward his face to Mizpah, where all that is 
dearest to him dwells. Perhaps for the moment 
he is unmindful of his vow; not unmindful to re- 
main. See! There come to meet him, and greet 
him a joyous procession of damsels with dances and 
timbrels. Among them his daughter, his only 
child. It is to make his homecoming happy. 
" Alas ! my daughter, thou hast brought me very 
low. I have opened my mouth to Jehovah, and 
I cannot go back." "My father, if thou hast 
opened thy mouth unto Jehovah, do to me accord- 
ing to the word which hath proceeded out of thy 
mouth." "And he offered her a burnt offering." 
Jephthah, the rude Gileadite, brave his heart, rash 
his vow, his spirit hardened by his previous life as 
a freebooter and plunderer, lays his daughter, lovely. 



13^ JACOBUS SONS 

virtuous, brave, his only child, a sacrificial victim 
on the altar. Surely those were rude times, and 
a wild people. If Jephthah thought that he was 
right, then we have here a notable instance of adher- 
ence to right, even when it rends the heart. Here 
at least we have wild romance in real life. It well 
befits the tribe whose symbol is a reckless trooper. 

2. The Men of Jabesh. — Rough natures are often 
blessed with warm, loving, grateful hearts. The 
trooper whose name strikes terror to the foe often 
proves himself to be the truest and most grateful 
friend. Jabesh, a city of Gad, is besieged by the 
Ammonites. Closely invested, it is called to sur- 
render. No terms of mercy are allowed. A res- 
pite of seven days is secured, by which it would 
seem death only stares them the longer in the face. 
Messengers are, however, sent to King Saul. It 
is the morning of the seventh day of truce, the last. 
Saul with his great army comes in sight and, falling 
on the unsuspecting Ammonites, puts them to flight. 
Jabesh is free. The men of Jabesh never forget 
this favor. The troopers treasured the grateful 
memory of Saul's kind act. 

Saul's checkered life is drawing to its close. The 
star of his destiny is dipping in the western sky. 
His friends are now few. His forces are mar- 
shaled on Gilboa. He prepares for his last battle. 
The din of strife is heard. The cloud of conflict 
is seen. When the cloud has rolled away and 



JACOB'S SONS 133 

silence reig'ns again over Israel, Israel's cause is 
lost, their standard has fallen, their king is slain. 
Now see what the Philistines do. They cut Saul's 
head from his body. They nail his headless corpse 
on the wall of Bethshean in the Valley of Jezreel. 
Is there no one to resent such indignity to Israel's 
king? Where are the brave men of Israel who 
would rather die than see their monarch's body thus 
disgraced? They have fled. They have left their 
king to his impending fate. Hark! what sound is 
this ? Be still and listen. Is it the rushing of the 
Jordan's stream ? Is it the gurgling waters of Beth- 
shean's brook? It is the sound of human foot- 
steps. Quietly as possible they come, lest the rus- 
tling of the leaves attract the notice of Philistine 
sentinels that walk their rounds or guard their ap- 
pointed posts. 

From Gilead's heights the men of Jabesh have 
seen the body of their deliverer Saul nailed in dis- 
grace to Bethshean's wall. Down come the fear- 
less troopers from the heights, cross the flowing 
Jordan, creep up Jezreel's vale, and, with no thought 
of life or peril, amid the Philistine host, remove the 
body of the king, carry it to Jabesh in the land of 
Gad. They burn it there, and with honor inter 
the ashes of the fallen Saul. All honor to the dar- 
ing, true nobility, the high sense of duty, right, and 
gratitude of the rough, warlike men of God. 

3. ^Helpers of Helpless. — A friend to the friend- 



134 JACOB'S SONS 

less heroic Gad seems always tO' be. His warlike 
weapons are often drawn on the side of the weak. 
Rough natures often reveal that honorable trait. 
When we wish comfort, support, friendship, we do 
not always find these blessings coming from those 
of smoothest speech, most pleasing manner, or most 
graceful address. Oftener perhaps such blessings 
come from those who outwardly are uncouth, rough, 
and seemingly inconsiderate and unsympathetic. So 
at was with Gad. The land of Gad was the refuge 
for the oppressed. The weary might go there for 
rest; the pursued might find there a safe retreat. 

Ishbosheth finds a welcome there. When Saul 
died, David began his reign. Ishbosheth, Saul's 
oldest surviving son, assumed the royal title and 
proclaimed himself the king. Where should the 
waning house of Saul look for support sooner than 
to the tribe of Gad? Thither Ishbosheth went. 
There he established his throne. Nowhere else in 
all the kingdom could he have received so warm a 
welcome as from these men of Gilead who sympa- 
thized with the afflicted and distressed. They took 
Ishbosheth's part against David, in the day of 
David's power. 

David had his day of sorrow too. To him there 
came a day of flight, of exile from his palace and 
from his throne. Absalom rebels. The king's life 
is imperiled. He must leave his palace at once. 
He must go forth without delay. Absalom has 



JACOB'S SONS 13s 

stolen the hearts of his people. There was one tribe 
whose hearts he could not steal — the fearless, warm- 
hearted, faithful troopers of Gad. Now that David 
is in trouble, these friends of the friendless open 
to him their arms and welcome him to their retreat. 

David, almost alone, with a few faithful follow- 
ers, by instinct turns to the men who never played 
false because of peril, crosses the brow of Olivet, 
goes down to Jordan and crosses by the ferry. As 
he goes, stones and curses fall from unfriendly 
hands and lips around him; but once across the 
Jordan in Gilead he is safe. The noble Barzillai, 
the Gileadite, into whose cojffers God had poured 
abundant wealth, opens his treasures and supplies 
all needed comforts to the banished king. Ab- 
salom's army sweeps victoriously over the land till 
it comes to Gilead. There, in the land of brave 
troopers and faithful friends, the traitor army is 
brought to a stand and put to flight. There Ab- 
salom, the traitor son, is slain. 

The grateful king said to Barzillai : " Come thou 
over with me. I will feed thee with me in Jerusa- 
lem." Barzillai answered : " Why should the king 
recompense it me with such reward? Let thy ser- 
ivant turn back and die in my own city." And 
David kissed Barzillai and blessed him. David 
went back to his throne and palace. Barzillai from 
the parting place on the borders of Gad returned 
to his home amid the wild scenes of Gilead. 



136 JACOB'S SONS 

4. Elijah. — The grandest and most romantic 
character that Israel ever produced was a man of 
Gad. In him the character of the tribe was most 
fully developed. He was the Gadite in heroic size, 
made great to be seen afar, to loom over all the 
land and down all the ages. He was of more than 
ordinary size; so the impression prevails and the 
inference is made. His hair was long and thick 
and hung in shaggy locks down on his shoulders. 
His raiment was a girdle of skin around his body. 
A mantle of renown fell over his shoulders. The 
prophet of fire he was, at whose presence kings 
trembled; at whose command royal Ahab promptly 
obeyed. Elijah the Tishbite! Why the Tishbite, 
nobody knows. One thing of him we know. In 
him we see all the fire and heroism and valor of 
Gad subdued and controlled by grace and sanctified 
by heavenly consecration. Had he not been a great 
prophet what a warrior he would have been ! What 
a warrior he was! 

He hailed from Gilead, where shepherds looked 
down three thousand feet into the vale of Jordan; 
from Gilead, where the heights are crowned with 
robber strongholds and the valleys are whitened 
with pasturing flocks; from Gilead, where shep- 
herds and herdsmen watch in the fields armed to 
the teeth lest predatory bands should fall upon them 
and find them unprepared. 

In Elijah we see the wild Gadite sanctified, the 



JACOB'S SONS 137 

Bedouin Israelite consecrated to his God. Suddenly 
the trooper-prophet comes upon the stage, his com- 
ing unannounced. He trembles not in the presence 
of the earthly crowned. For three years he hides 
himself amid the crags of Gilead. He runs before 
the royal chariot at the bursting of Carmel's storm, 
and wearies not. When his eventful life is over, 
fleeter than the roe upon the mountain, he mounts 
the chariot of fire and is borne upward by a whirl- 
wind to his heavenly home. A troop shall over- 
come him, but he shall overcome at the last. 



X 

ASHER 

" Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, 
And he shall yield royal dainties." 

— Gen. 49: 20. 

AsHER is Zilpah's son. He is whole brother of 
Gad. The order of the names is somewhat pe- 
culiar. We have first of all Leah's sons. Last 
of all come Rachel's sons. The servants' sons come 
between these, but in peculiar order. Bilhah's are 
first and last; between them Gad and Asher, Zil- 
pah's sons. Asher and his tribe are the least men- 
tioned of all the host of Israel. Like the tribe of 
Simeon, in all the annals of Asher there is but one 
conspicuous figure, one distinguished name. The 
casual notices of Asher, however, fall into line with 
Jacob's brief blessing on this undistinguished son. 

I. ASHER^S TRIBAL SYMBOL 

" Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he 
shall yield royal dainties." His bread shall be fat. 
" Bread " is the symbol of the tribe. What kind of 

138 



JACOB'S SONS 139 

bread? There are several kinds of bread men- 
tioned in Scripture. There are the " barley loaves " 
which the lad furnished for the Saviour's miracle; 
used by the poorest people or in times of unusual 
scarcity. Hence, the barley loaf would represent 
what was mean or insig-nificant. There is the rye 
loaf also. Elijah in the wilderness sleeps under 
the juniper tree. An angel touches him, saying: 
" Rise and eat." There before him is a cake baked 
on the coals ; a loaf of rye bread, rough food of the 
wilderness. Then there is the wheat loaf. This 
was regarded best. This was the fare of the regal 
and the rich. Solomon's provision for one day 
was thirty measures of fine flour. Not the quantity 
only, but the quality also is emphasized. There is 
one verse of Isaiah which brings these bread grains 
into one view and intO' their proper relations. 
Isaiah 28 : 25 : " Doth not the plowman cast in the 
wheat in the principal place, and the barley in the 
appointed place, and the rye in the borders of the 
fields?" 

Which of these three kinds of bread becomes the 
symbol of Asher and his tribe? Jacob answers for 
us. " Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he 
shall yield royal dainties." His loaf shall be the 
best. It shall be good enough to please the king — 
a royal dainty. In all the delicacies which with 
luxurious abundance loaded the tables of King 
Solomon, there was nothing better than the royal 



140 JACOB'S SONS 

bread of Asher. The symbol is not simply bread, 
but the finest and the best; dainties for the king. 

Bread signifies sustenance. It is the staiY of life. 
It is the nourisher of the body. Royal dainties 
suggest luxurious living. Asher is the dainty tribe, 
fond of luxuries and given to ease. The royal loaf 
represents the tribe. 

II. — asher's inheritance 

There is no other country in all the world into 
which are crowded so many great events, and to 
which attach so important associations, as the Holy 
Land; not even Greece, the land of poetry, elo- 
quence, art, and song. It is a little land, but it is 
written all over with greatest truths and immortal- 
ized with thrilling scenes. This is reason enough 
for tracing its physical features and desiring to 
know somewhat of sacred geography. It is well 
that Bible students seek to trace its mountains and 
valleys, to know its cities and rivers, to mark its 
bulwarks, and learn its great boundary lines. The 
Bible is written on the land of its charming scenes 
and thrilling events. Another reason for this study 
of the land is that a people must ever more and 
more become adjusted to their home; and the home 
become more and more expressive of the people. 
Each has of the other a story to tell, a revelation 
to make. Asher's inheritance suits the royal loaf. 



JACOB'S SONS 141 

Asher's inheritance is the extreme northwestern 
portion of the land. It borders on the sea. The 
Mediterranean Sea washes 140 miles of Canaan's 
coast. Along this shore stretches one great plain. 
This plain gently rises eastward to the mountain 
range that constitutes the central feature of the 
land. By certain natural features this maritime 
plain is divided into three sections. Each section re- 
ceives a special name. The southernmost is Shephe- 
lah or Lowland. This reaches almost to Joppa. 
Here Shephelah is suddenly narrowed by an inroad 
of the hills. The narrowed plain is Sharon, a 
name familiar in sacred classics. Sharon finds its 
northern limit at the base of Mount Carmel, which, 
jutting out from the hill country, stands squarely 
across the seaboard plain. There is a broad sandy 
beach that circles around the. mountain base. We 
pass around between the mountain and the sea. 
When we complete the semicircle and stand on the 
northern side of Carmel, we look forward, and be- 
fore us stretching northward is the third section of 
the maritime plain. This is the plain of Acre, 
Asher's peaceful home. 

The northern limit of this plain of Acre is sig- 
nalized by a remarkable and renowned natural 
phenomenon. It is called the Tyrian Ladder. It 
is a promontory that juts out boldly into the sea. 
It invades the plain, cuts it absolutely off, stands 
out in the sea, leaving not even a sandy beach about 



142 JACOB'S SONS 

its base. There is no passage-way around the 
moiintain base. The Tyrian Ladder stands as the 
well-defined limit between Phenicia on the north 
and Israel on the south. These two mountains, 
Carmel and the Tyrian Ladder, are the great land- 
marks of Asher. Asher looks south — there is 
Carmel. He looks north — there is the spur of 
Lebanon. These two great pillars mark the limits 
of his home. The last, by its frowning height and 
forbidding sides, seems to be God's sentinel ever- 
watchful and ever-warning this ease-loving and 
most northern tribe against alliance with Phenicia, 
the enemies of Israel's God. Well would it have 
been for Asher had an earnest heed been given to 
this silent but impressive lesson. 

Between these sentinel mountains and between the 
mountains of Naphtali and the blue waters of the 
sea the men of Asher dwelt. It was a fertile plain, 
whose rich soil was ready with great abundance to 
reward Asher's toiling sons. Like the Valley of 
Jezreel, a garden spot of Canaan was this plain of 
Acre, a choice inheritance. It was emphatically a 
grain country. Its harvests were enormous. 

Gad and Asher were whole brothers. They were 
far removed from each other in settlement. Still 
farther, however, they were removed in tastes, 
habits, and pursuits. Gad was wild and roaming, 
adventurous and bold; Asher was domestic. He 
loved his home and delighted in his affluence and 



JACOB'S SONS 143 

ease. His plain was rich, his soil well tilled, his 
harvests large, his dainties such as might please a 
king. The royal loaf may well symbolize the plain 
where the sea breezes fan the fields of golden grain, 
where the abundant harvests richly reward the 
plowmen and reapers, where barns are filled and 
granaries are amply stored, and ease and afiluence 
are enjoyed. 

III. ASHER^S BLESSINGS 

The inheritance was a blessing. But there were 
certain specific blessings which such an inheritance 
gave. There is an unusual particularity in the men- 
tion of the blessings which Asher inherits. There 
is pictured for him almost everything that heart 
could desire, all that would make life comfortable 
and agreeable. Asher means happy. If he lived 
"up to his privilege, his name and symbol, we might 
announce our subject as " Asher, or the Happy 
Tribe." Surely his portion was well fitted to make 
a happy tribe. Turning to Moses's blessing we 
find the following items of Asher's happy inherit- 
ance: 

I. A Large Tribe. — "Let Asher be blessed with 
children." Children were regarded as blessings in 
those days. The larger the family, the more happi- 
ness crowned the home. Asher was one of the larg- 
est tribes. At the time of settlement the tribe num- 
bered 53,400 men: During the forty years of 



144 JACOB'S SONS 

wandering Asher had grown in numbers. The 
blessing of numbers certainly was his. 

2. The Amiable Tribe. — Asher had the affection 
of his brethren. Here is something quite novel in 
the course of these blessings. Brotherly love is 
specified. Moses says : " Let Asher be acceptable 
to his brethren." What shall we infer from this? 
What need was there of this mention? Putting 
things together, we discern a feature of this tribe 
standing out in bold relief. Asher is a peace-lov- 
ing, ease-loving, domestic tribe. That is one fact. 
Another fact : Moses speaks of Asher's acceptabil- 
ity to his brethren. Combining these facts, we may 
infer that Asher possessed the happy faculty of 
rendering himself agreeable to others; the happy 
faculty of adaptability — the amiable tribe. This 
falls in beautifully with a fact concerning the great 
encampment of Israel's host. A problem: Given 
the tribes, related as we have found them to be in 
their domestic infelicities, the problem is to form 
four camps of three tribes each, yet not to bring 
into any one camp heterogeneous elements. It is not 
an easy problem. The nearest approach to a per- 
fect solution seems to be that which we find in 
Israel's camp. Camp No. i. All Leah's sons; 
homogeneous. Camp No. 2. All Rachel's sons ; ho- 
mogeneous. Camp No. 3. Two tribes of Leah's 
sons and one of Leah's maid's; homogeneous. 
Camp No. 4. Two tribes of Bilhah's sons and 



JACOB'S SONS I4S 

one of Zilpah's; heterogeneous, two antagonis- 
tic elements. So we think, until we learn that the 
lonely tribe is Asher, whom his brethren loved, the 
tribe whose amiability secured his acceptance every- 
where. 

3. A Wealthy Tribe. — " Let him dip his foot in 
oil and his shoes be iron and brass." Asher's 
granaries were filled with precious treasures gath- 
ered from the cultivated fields. His hillsides were 
adorned with groves of dusky olives. The olive oil 
is stored or shipped, used at home or sent abroad. 
His shoes are iron and brass. His also is mineral 
wealth. Amid the roots of Lebanon, which en- 
croached on Asher's eastern borders, were copper 
and iron. The iron which at this day is worked 
there is said to be peculiarly suitable for shoeing 
beasts of burden, and is eagerly sought for in 
Phenicia and northern Syria. 

Isaiah works up this feature intO' a pen picture. 
He gives us a glimpse of the interior of one of 
Asher's forges : " The smith with the tongs both 
worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with the 
hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his 
arms: yea, he is hungry and his strength faileth; 
he drinketh no water and is faint." See the artisan, 
parched with the heat and begrimed with the smoke 
of the furnace, standing by his anvil contemplating 
the unwrought iron, his ears deafened with the din 
of heavy hammer, his eyes fixed on his model and 



146 JACOB'S SONS 

his work, resting not till the work is done. This 
is the reproduction of many a scene in ancient 
Asher. 

What portion of the earthly inheritance is rough, 
difficult, wearing, hard, provides at the same time 
that by which we may safely tread the rudest way 
and climb the most difficult ascent. The mountains 
that encroach on Asher's pleasant plain and inter- 
rupt his easy ways furnish that by which his feet 
are shod to tread the roughened way. 

4. A Guarded Tribe. — Not only the guardian 
mountains keep watch over Asher, another guard 
has he. His guard is a noted promise of the Lord. 
The culmination of Asher' s blessings is in thei 
promise of future good. One of the sweetest 
promises of God's word first fell on Asher's ears. 
It has been the comfort of many children of God 
from that day to this. It has helped the toiler 
to do his work. It has cheered the heavy-laden to 
bear his burden. It has helped the careworn to 
drive away his care. It has brought light into 
many shadowed hearts. It has upheld many who 
without it would have fallen by the way. The 
promise, while it is ours to-day, has come to us 
through Asher's tribe. Do you ask what this 
promise is? "As thy days so shall thy strength 
be." After all, this is the richest jewel in Asher's 
crown of blessings. This is his Koh-i-noor. As 
thy days thy strength shall be! It puts within his 



JACOB'S SONS 147 

grasp all future prosperity! Makes it a possibility 
to him. 

What does this promise mean? Clearly not that 
as thy days are multiplied thy strength shall be 
increased. It does not mean that each revolving 
year, without condition, shall add to Asher's 
strength. But doubtless it means that the days and 
the strength shall go along together and alike. As 
thy days are improved thy strength shall be im- 
proved. If the one is good, the other shall be 
good. If the one fails, the other shall fail. The 
day is a picture of the strength. Fear nothing, as 
your life is right. Let your days be rightly lived 
and you shall be adequate to every emergency, 
equal to every demand. Phenicians are near you. 
You are a border tribe. Attend only to your day. 
Be ready for it when it comes. Let it be wisely 
used. All will be well. As thy days so shall thy 
strength be. We are troubled oft about our 
strength. God attends to that. We should attend 
only to the day. How have we lived to-day? 



IV. ASHER S RECORD 

The history of Asher is very brief and bare of 
incident. But in its brevity we readily trace the 
unfolding of the character Jacob marked and Moses 
reaffirmed. His bread was fat; his heart became 
dull. His fare was dainty, delicate, and royal; he 



148 JACOB'S SONS 

became effeminate. Wealth rolled in on Asher; 
wealth brought its enervating luxuries. His days 
were evil; his strength soon waned and was ex- 
hausted. A beautiful beginning his surely was; 
one condition to success — serve God and obey his 
commands. A sad and wretched end was h'is; 
apostasy from God. The two sentinel mountains 
are still there, as when they guarded Asher's tribe. 
There are olive trees still yielding olives and fields 
still yielding grain. Amid that scene the tribe 
which might have been the happy tribe of Israel 
became the most inferior tribe of Israel's host. 

No page of history is brightened by heroic deeds 
of Asher's tribe. The little plain of Acre has a dis- 
tinguished record in the history of the world's af- 
fairs; but its glories were not achieved by Asher's 
men. Great armies have camped upon it. Valiant 
deeds have immortalized its name. There the 
armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa from time to 
time have met in fearful conflict. There Bedouin, 
Saladin, Richard the Lion-hearted, Khalil, Napo- 
leon, Ibrahim Pasha, and Napier have laid siege or 
have been besieged. There were cooped up the 
remnants of the great crusading armies, driven 
from every other part of Palestine, still holding this 
the key of Canaan. It was not till they were 
driven thence that, as Gibbon says, " a mournful 
and solitary silence prevailed along the coast which 
had so long resounded with the world's debate." 



JACOBUS SONS 149 

Heroes from the four quarters of the world have 
achieved renown on Asher's plain, while Asher sinks 
into insignificance and we search his lists in vain 
for one distinguished name. What Reuben was 
east of Jordan, what Simeon was in the south, 
Asher is in the north — the insignificant tribe. His 
history is a great negation. We read not what he 
did, but what he failed to do. There are four his- 
toric references to Asher. They are brief. We 
touch them merely. Glance at them hurriedly, and 
let them go. 

I. "Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants 
of Accho, nor Zidon, nor Ahlab, nor Achzib, nor 
Helbah, nor Aphik, nor Rehob." Then whom did 
he drive out ? We are at a loss to know. It seems 
he did not drive out any. The words are added: 
" But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites : 
for they did not drive them out.'^ The record here 
about Asher is different from the record of any 
other tribe. Some other tribes did not succeed in 
taking all their allotted cities. But of them it is 
added : '' The Canaanites dwelt with them." The 
Canaanites were in the minority, or at least were 
tributary to these tribes. But of Asher it is said: 
He lived with the Canaanites, because he did not 
drive them out. He lived with them, made alli- 
ances with them, and forfeited his claim to the rich- 
est jewel in his crown of blessing; and his strength 
began to wane. 



150 JACOB'S SONS 

2. Deborah, Israel's heroic poetess, sings her 
joyous song of victory. Jabin is defeated and 
Sisera is slain. On Israel's standard triumph 
perched, under the leadership of Barak and Deb^ 
orah. There had been a call to arms. The 
trumpet had sounded over the hills of Zebulun and 
Naphtali, over the plains of Issachar and Asher. 
But Asher, the luxurious tribe of Israel, though 
he heard the battle call, continued on the sea- 
shore and abode on his creeks. Of all the tribe 
there was not a man who was willing to draw his 
sword for Jehovah or help to put tO' flight Jehovah's 
foes. His days were evil ; rapidly ebbs his strength 
away. 

3. David makes a record of the princes over the 
tribes of Israel. There is no prince of Asher 
named. His days had more evil grown; his 
strength was so far gone as to be uncounted when 
the princes' names were called. 

4. A thousand years have passed since no prince 
of Asher could be found to represent his tribe. 
Great events have transpired. Kingdoms have 
arisen and fallen. Terrible convulsions have 
shaken the land and the people from the monarchs 
to the humblest peasants of the realm. But never 
once catch we the sound of Asher's name nor see 
the record of his deed. The thousand years have 
passed. Once more, once only, to the surface 
Asher comes. It is as the flickering of the spark 



JACOB'S SONS 151 

that flares up and then goes out into perpetual dark- 
ness. It is the last name in Asher's history. It is 
the only name that reflects any honor on the tribe. 
It is the only one who is recorded as having broken 
the spell of worldliness that cursed the tribe. It is 
the only one in whom the amiability and acceptabil- 
ity of Asher are preserved. The only one in whose 
life the symbol shines in its best light and yields its 
best meaning. 

The scene is in Jerusalem. Herod's temple 
stands in all its splendor. A happy little family 
enter the court. The careless crowd jostles them 
and hurries by. Who are they more than others? 
A man, a woman, and a lovely Baby, that is all. 
There is no halo round themu There is no out- 
ward badge of high estate, or unusual dignity, or 
uncommon claim. An aged woman sees them — 
Anna, a widow, a prophetess, of the tribe of Asher. 
Far from the tribal home in the distant north, 
weary of worldliness, she has taken up her abode in 
Jehovah's house. She prays and longs and sighs 
for the day of Israel's redemption. Fixing intently 
her gaze on the infant Jesus, her spirit rejoices, and 
she gives thanks to the Lord, and speaks of Him 
to all that looked for redemption in Israel. 

The fires of prophecy which died out in Malachi 
are kindled anew in the heart of Anna, the aged 
prophetess of Asher's tribe. The promise that had 
lain buried more than a thousand years was not 



152 JACOB'S SONS 

lifeless, but instinct with unabated life: As thy 
days thy strength shall be. The vitality of God's 
Word is eternal. The jewels of His promise may 
be cast down, trampled, lost to sight, but they are 
jewels still, awaiting the discovery of faith. When 
from their oblivion they are drawn, they glow with 
heavenly light, undimmed by neglect, unimpaired 
by forgetfulness of man. 

Asher forgot God, the giver of his daily bread. 
The aged Anna finds that what the promise needs is 
a believing heart to receive the blessing which it 
gives. She who was of the tribe whose symbol was 
the body's bread is the first in the dawning of the 
better day to welcome Him who proclaimed Him- 
self as the Bread of Life. 



XI 

NAPHTALI 

"Naphtali is a hind let loose: 
He giveth goodly words." 

— Gen. 49: 21. 

This blessing pronounced on Naphtali has been 
subjected to varied criticism. Several translations 
have been suggested as preferable to the one con- 
tained in our English version. One critic sug- 
gests : " Naphtali is a spreading oak of beautiful 
branches." Another: "NaphtaH is a hind let 
loose: he putteth forth spreading antlers." The 
difficulty in accepting any of these suggestions is 
that each of them necessitates some slight change 
in the original Hebrew words. Such arbitrary 
changes, made only to support a fancy, are not to 
be approved. The original words are simply, 
easily, correctly translated as we have them in our 
English Bible. The reason for suggesting differ- 
ent renderings seems to be what is regarded as an 
incongruity between the two clauses of the blessing : 
"a hind let loose" and "giveth goodly words." 
This seeming incongruity may vanish as we pursue 
the study of this tribe. 

153 



154 JACOB'S SONS 

I. NAPHTALl's SYMBOL 

The symbol is a hind let loose; a graceful hind, 
a female deer. There are two principal sorts of 
deer ; the fallow deer, best known to us, seen in our 
forests, whose fawn is sometimes seen about our 
parks and lawns ; and the red deer or stag, the hart 
and hind. The Bible is not a treatise on natural 
history, and may not always draw a fine line be- 
tween the different species of the same great family 
of creatures. Hence some think there is reference 
here to the beautiful gazelle of graceful form and 
agile motion. There are frequent allusions to deer 
in Scripture. So far as these allusions are poetical 
the reference is always to the hind or female deer. 
In the prophetic song of Habakkuk : " The Lord 
God is my strength, and he will make my feet like 
hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine 
high places." In the beautiful and familiar lyrical 
poem of royal David: "As the hart [hind is the 
proper translation here] panteth after the water 
brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." 

The hind is a beautiful animal, trim, symmetri- 
cal, graceful. Its slender limbs are made for rapid 
motion ; so fleet that its feet seem to scorn to touch 
the earth in its rapid flight. Its celerity has become 
a proverb. Tradition has it that Naphtali was cele- 
brated for swiftness. The hind is shy and shuns 
the abode of man. It is wild and timid until com- 



JACOB'S SONS 155 

pelled to stand at bay ; then fearful in the vengeance 
which it executes. It will startle at the rustling of 
the forest leaves; yet when attacked, and escape is 
cut off, the timid hind with reckless courage will 
defy its foe. It may become a victim to superior 
might, but not as the lamb, that bleats and bleeds 
and dies. 

Its home is in the mountains. In Israel's land 
the graceful deer and fleet-footed gazelle sport, 
graze, and roam in the highlands of Palestine. The 
hind imprisoned chafes, pines, and droops. Let it 
loose, and watch it. The hind let loose stands a 
moment, lifts its graceful neck, pricks up its ears, 
distends its nostrils, as if to descry the mountain 
brow or catch the odors of the mountain air; then 
on fleet hoofs hies to the distant hills and finds the 
long-desired home of its love amid rugged crags, 
rifted rocks, narrow defiles, and deep gorges. It 
will not rest and is not satisfied until it proudly 
stands on dizzy heights where the huntsmen, bold 
mountaineer though he be, will scarcely dare to fol- 
low. Naphtali is a hind let loose. 

The significance of this symbol is not difiicult to 
trace. It suggests Naphtali the mountaineers of 
Israel, the highlanders of Canaan. The symbolic 
meaning may be traced in Naphtali's home, Naph- 
tali's blessings, and Naphtali's character. 



156 JACOB'S SONS 



II. NAPHTALfs HOME 



See the tribe at Shiloh, in Israel's great encamp- 
ment there. The land is not completely appor- 
tioned yet. Tribe by tribe has drawn its lot and 
received its inheritance. Two tribes at length are 
left to be provided for, Naphtali and Dan. The 
restless hinds have long been subjected to the rigors 
of imprisonment. Egyptian bondage had pressed 
heavily upon them. Scarcely less had the trials of 
forty years of wandering fretted their wild, un- 
tamable natures. While other tribes had grown 
amid desert sands and protracted wanderings, 
Naphtali had drooped and dwindled, as from its 
constrained life the tribe had sighed for the free- 
dom of its home. The day of release at last had 
come. The lot is drawn. The inheritance is an- 
nounced. The hind let loose speeds to the moun- 
tain home. 

Let us trace the location of the tribe. Of all the 
inheritances Naphtali's is northernmost. It is im- 
mediately east of Asher and west of northern Dan. 
It reaches farther north than either. The three 
longitudinal features of the land are the maritime 
plain, the central mountain range, and the Jordan 
gorge. The seaboard plain attains its northern 
limit in Asher's home. The Jordan valley in its 
northern limit marks Dan's abode. The northern 
limit of the mountain range is the inheritance of 



JACOBUS SONS 157 

Naphtali. The central mountain ridge, rising amid 
the southern plains of Judah, gradually ascends, 
gradually assumes more rugged features, until it 
culminates in the north amid the wildness and sub- 
limity which mark the inheritance of Naphtali. 

Three physical features constitute the beauty and 
the grandeur of the scene — mountain, valley, and 
water. These three features, so essential to com- 
pleteness of landscape beauty, are not always found 
combined. But in the little state of Naphtali, ten 
by thirty miles, we find them in the glory of per- 
fection. It is the Switzerland of Canaan. 

Two mountain ranges, Lebanon and Anti-Leba- 
non, with numerous spurs, display their glories to 
the Naphtalites, and upon these sons of Israel shed 
their choicest blessings. The mountain sides are 
in many places precipitous, rugged, and deeply fur- 
rowed. These natural incisions form shadowed 
ravines, which add striking features to the pictur- 
esqueness and sublimity of the scene. 

Here and there amid the dizzy heights are plots of 
cultivated land, so far above the usual plain of 
human habitation, so difficult of access, so unin- 
viting for the purposes of home, that the presence 
of human dwellings in these lofty reaches of the 
land creates surprise. But the hinds let loose have 
climbed the rocky sides and delight to rest on the 
airy heights. 

There, too, without a rival in all the land, the 



158 JACOB'S SONS 

one great landmark of all Canaan rises giant amid 
giants — Hermon, the glory of the land. It towers 
ten thousand feet above the level of the Mediter- 
ranean Sea. Its sides are clothed with verdure, 
forest growth, and graceful vine. Its three peaks 
are forever robed in peerless white. On its summit 
perpetual snow holds its wintry sway. It was here, 
on the mighty Hermon, the culminating height of 
Naphtali's mountains, that the transfigured glory 
of our Lord was revealed to the favored three. 

Imagine the experience of the traveler who seeks 
to scale these mountains, to trace their ill-defined 
and rugged paths, allured on by exhilarating moun- 
tain air and by the fragrance of the mountain 
flowers and cedar groves, thrilled by the thoughts 
that throng his brain and the visions that charm 
his eyes. He carefully makes his way along the 
perilous path, the dizzy height on one side and the 
abysmal depth on the other side, and the narrow 
path between. Even a son of Naphtali must for a 
moment hold his breath and closely cling to the 
mountain-side. Amid these mountain wilds to-day 
are seen graceful hinds, that by their presence afford 
a favorable comment on Jacob's prophetic words. 

Then there are Naphtali's valleys too. Let us 
descend. At the mountain bases there are vales of 
exquisite beauty clothed in the loveliness of a para- 
dise. Even the vale of Chamouni, that rests in 
peace at the base of Mount Blanc, surpasses not the 



JACOB'S SONS 159 

beauty of the glens and valleys that nestle amid the 
spurs of Naphtali's rugged mountains. The larg- 
est of these valleys and the one of which we know 
most, and to which we are most attracted by its 
sacred associations, the one whose name is as 
familiar to us as any treasured word can be, is 
called, "The Land of Gennesaret." It lies seven 
hundred feet below the level of the Mediterranean 
Sea. It was traced by the divinely sacred feet of 
Christ. Here was taught the parable of the sower 
and the seed. Here in this lovely plain constantly 
are heard the songs of birds, that with brilliant 
plumage fly across its cultivated fields or alight in 
its foliage and flowers. The birds of the air came 
down and devoured the seed. 

Then there is the water scenery. The melting 
snows of Hermon in constant streams trickle down 
the mountain-sides and traverse the lowly plains. 
Lakes adorn the valleys of Naphtali. The little 
inland sea of Gennesaret is of the land the special 
gem,. It is a poem, without words, a treasure place 
of poetic thoughts. Its beauty has become a prov- 
erb. The blue waters of the lake are a picture 
framed by great mountains, high tablelands and 
lovely plains, fringed by flowers of many tints and 
types and sweetest odors, and by a pebbled shore, 
the scene of many historic incidents and great 
events. Withal the beauty and the charm are 
greatly enhanced by the most sacred associations 



i6o JACOB'S SONS 

with which the earth is blessed. Over the beautiful 
Galilean Lake there seems to gather a dreamy at- 
mosphere, inviting reminiscent thought, and, out of 
the sacred past and the exquisite present view, 
inspiring to new resolves for what is best. 

In the little land of Naphtali was found not only 
great variety of scene, but every variation of 
climate. The climate varied from the perpetual win- 
ter of Hermon's ice-crowned peaks to perpetual sum- 
mer that reigned on the shore of Gennesaret. Her- 
mon was forever capped with snow. Gennesaret 
was always clothed with flowers. From the moun- 
tain's great height to the deep depression of Gen- 
nesaret's vale there was a graduation of the climates 
of all the zones. This exchange might be accom- 
plished by the journey of a day. Yet it would be 
as if one had passed from Greenland to the West 
Indies in one brief day. In the morning he would 
battle with ice fields and gather his wrappings 
closely around him. In the evening he would cast 
his outer robes off, wipe the moisture from his 
brow, and pursue his journey amid tropical fruits 
and flowers. Though the northmen of the land, 
yet when the feast of ingathering rolled around the 
men of Naphtali were among the first to lay their 
firstfruits on the Altar in Jerusalem. In sight of 
perpetual snow, their lowly plain was a perpetual 
greenhouse, where grain was forced and harvests 
hurried to maturity. 



JACOB'S SONS i6i 

III. NAPHTALf S BLESSINGS 

The tribal home suggests the tribal blessings. Let 
us for a moment listen to what Moses says about 
this tribe. From Pisgah's height he saw the land 
in all its extent and marked all its features. As 
he contemplates this tribe's inheritance he exclaims : 
" O Naphtali, satisfied with favor, and full with the 
blessing of the Lord, possess 'thou the sea and 
Darom." Our version : " Possess thou the west 
and the south.'* Now in fact Naphtali possessed 
the opposite of these, namely, the north and the east. 
Yet the words are true to the facts of the case. 
Because the western border of Israel's land was the 
sea, west and sea became synonymous terms. West 
means sea, and sea means west. Hence, possess 
thou the west means possess thou the sea. 
Darom means south, and the word designated the 
southern slopes of Lebanon. Here it is used as a 
proper name, designating the southern mountain 
district of Lebanon. 

How truly full of the blessing of the Lord was 
that beautiful and romantic land, when from its 
mountain heights to its lowly plains there shone 
forth in all its heavenly brightness the marvelous 
light of the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, 
when Jesus Christ, leaving Nazareth, came and 
dwelt by the seaside in the borders of Zebulun and 
Naphtali. 



1 62' JACOB'S SONS 

IV.— NAPHTALfs CHARACTER 

Two traits of Naphtali are brought to notice in 
his symbol. 

I. His Devotion to his Mountain Home. — The 
mountaineer is always devoted to his mountain 
home. It may be but the rude cottage on the dizzy 
height or on the steep side, but it is the home where 
he delights to dwell. Every mountain becomes as 
a personal friend to the highlander. Man of peace 
the mountaineer may be, but he will protect his 
home. 

Among the hills of Naphtali nestles the fair city 
of Kedesh. It is the birthplace and residence of 
Naph tali's greatest hero, Barak, of military fame. 
One day a messenger enters the city from the south. 
He brings tidings to Barak. The tidings are alarm- 
ing and deeply stir the hearts of the mountaineers. 
A rumor quickly spreads abroad. King Jabin, 
with his general Sisera, has rolled out nine hundred 
chariots of war and mustered his great army and 
is coming like an avalanche on the northern tribes. 
Look to your mountain homes, ye men of Naphtali. 
The war-cry is enough. Ten thousand men rally 
to the call from the highlands to the Valley of 
Jezreel. A great storm of hail bursts over Jezreel, 
driving full in the faces of the Canaanites. In wild 
confusion the heathen hordes are put to flight. The 
general himself springs from his chariot and flees 



JACOB'S SONS 163 

for safety to the mountains, where he hopes to 
hide among their deep ravines. He seeks refuge 
in the tent of Heber the Kenite. 

A strange sight is that. Amid the towns that 
crowned the hill-tops and adorned the mountain 
sides of Naphtali there is a camp of tents, black 
tents of Bedouins. It is under the oaks near 
Kedesh, called Oaks of the Wanderers. Why are 
they there ? What do they mean ? 

Moses married the daughter of Jethro of Arabia. 
Jethro's descendants accompanied Israel to the 
promised land. When the host of Israel settled, 
Heber the Arabian pitched his tent in the land of 
Naphtali. From that day on the black tents 
marked the Arabian camp. 

Fleeing Sisera, seeing the black tents, thinking he 
might find a safe refuge there, draws near. Jael, 
the hostess of the tent, comes forth : " Turn in, 
my lord, fear not." Hotly pursued, he awaits no 
urging. Glad to escape pursuit, and to rest his 
weary body, he goes in. He comes not forth. 

In distant Hazor, where Sisera lived, his anxious 
mother waits. She mounts the tower. Eagerly 
she looks through the lattice and cries : " Why is 
his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the 
wheels of his chariot?" He comes not. Aye, he 
will never come. Look within the black tent of 
Heber. See, Sisera is there. He sleeps, pro- 
foundly sleeps. Exhausted nature rests, to restore 



i64 JACOB'S SONS 

its wasted powers. Jael draws near. In one hand 
she holds a heavy mallet. In the other she grasps 
the tent pin. Noiselessly she approaches. By a sin- 
gle well-dealt blow, by iron point, death enters at 
the temple of the sleeping warrior. He does not 
so much as stir. Death's image merges into its 
reality. Of all Israel's battles this is the one that 
confers greatest glory on the tribe of Naphtali — a 
victory achieved mostly by the valor of Naphtali's 
mountaineers. 

2. He Giveth Goodly Words. — Polished words, 
measured words, or poetry. There are lands which 
produce no poets, lands which can chill poetic fer- 
vor and extinguish any poetic fires wherever 
kindled. The Muses live not in the great Saharas 
or on plains of monotonous expanse, but in scenes 
of beauty and grandeur, to awe and to inspire. 
If the " poet is born," yet he is bom where the 
scenes of nature kindle and fan the flame of poesy. 
Barak, the great hero of Naphtali, was a poet too. 
He had not lived in Naphtali in vain. When he 
put to flight his foes the highland chief gave him- 
self to song. The beautiful ode which he and 
Deborah composed and sang was sung before 
Homer told in verse of Troy's woes. Surely Barak 
giveth goodly words. 

It cannot be questioned that the land of Naph- 
tali giveth goodly words. Hebrew poetry luxuri- 
ates in allusions to Naphtali. Hebrew poets ever 



JACOB'S SONS 165 

thitherwards turned their thoughts when they in- 
voked the Muses. The flowers of sacred poetry 
have been culled and gathered from the mountains 
and glens, the plains and waters, of Naphtali. The 
highland homes, lovely valleys, beautiful streams, 
rippled lakes and crystal sea, live in the Hebrew 
poet's songs, and will live while God's Word en- 
dures. 

The Naphtalites are gone; the highlands are 
there, but the highlanders of Israel are gone. They 
have vanished from their homes. The graceful 
hind well knew its want and its security, when, 
hotly pursued, it panted after the water brooks and 
paused by the cool crystal water of the mountain 
brook, slaked its thirst, and renewed its strength. 
It outsped its swift pursuer. The hind is there 
to-day. Naphtali saw the Gospel fountain opened 
in his land. Its pure, refreshing waters gently 
flowed. Pursued by foes, his thirsting spirit pants, 
but he pauses not to drink of the life-giving stream. 
He exclaims not: "As the hart panteth after the 
water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O 
God." His strength succumbs. His life is ex- 
hausted. He falls a victim to his foes. 



XII 

JOSEPH THE FAVORITE SON 

" Joseph is a fruitful bough, 
Even a fruitful bough by a well; 
Whose branches run over the wall: 
The archers have sorely grieved him, 
And shot at him, and hated him: 
But his bow abode in strength, 
And the arms of his hands were made strong 
By the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; 
(From thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel) : 
Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; 
And by the Almighty, who shall bless thee 
With blessings of heaven above. 
Blessings of the deep that lieth under. 
Blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: 
The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the 

blessings of my progenitors 
Unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills : 
They shall be on the head of Joseph, 
And on the crown of the head of him that was 
separate from his brethren." 

— Gen. 49: 22-26. 

Joseph occupies a different position from that of 
the other sons of Jacob. He was not, as each of 
the others was, the head of a tribe of Israel. We 
do not read of the tribe of Joseph. We search in 
vain on the map of tribal divisions for the inherit- 

166 



JACOB'S SONS 167 

ance of Joseph. His name is not perpetuated in 
his descendants. The reason of this is that Joseph's 
two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, were adopted by- 
Jacob as his own. They became the heads of tribes, 
and all of Joseph's descendants were reckoned un- 
der their names and belonged to Ephraim or Ma- 
nasseh. Joseph stands alone, and in this sense at 
least is, as Jacob says, ** separate from his brethren." 
We are now to consider the suitableness of Jacob's 
words to the personal history of Joseph. The tribes 
of Ephraim and Manasseh will receive a separate 
consideration. 

It is not now proposed minutely to trace the 
history of Joseph. That history is inimitably re- 
corded in the Word of God. The scope of these 
studies confines us to this purpose, namely, to show 
how Joseph's life reflects the patriarchal blessing. 
The symbol of this favorite son graphically deline- 
ates his entire life. It beautifully and faithfully 
pictures his previous and his subsequent life. We 
look on this picture drawn thirty-five hundred years 
ago, and through its still fresh portrayal we become 
thoroughly acquainted with the man. But what is 
the picture? Let us look at it. 



I. — Joseph's symbol 

Joseph's symbol is a vine. " A fruitful bough, 
even a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches 



i68 JACOB'S SONS 

run over the wall." Here is the vine, the well, the 
wall. 

The vine is a favorite in Scriptural allusion. It 
is held in a sort of sacred reserve to represent only 
what is best and most beloved. In Biblical imagery 
it is used for the portrayal of what is worthy of 
highest honor and what dwells nearest tO' the heart. 
In the patriarchal blessing the favorite symbol and 
the favorite son have met. Jacob would not have 
us for a moment think that any vine, however pre- 
cious, could rightly represent Joseph- It must be 
a fruitful vine. Nor this only. He adds another 
touch — " a fruitful vine by a well." The value of 
a well in Oriental estimate may be noted in the fact 
that the samiC Hebrew word means '^ eye " and 
" well." Wells are earth's eyes. In them are mir- 
rored heavenly beauties. One more touch the artist 
gives : '^ Whose branches run over the wall." In 
Palestine the vine is planted on the side of a ter- 
raced hill. Walls of stone are built. The vines 
are trained over these. Thus the largest surface 
of the vine is exposed to the sim and the ripening 
of its rich clusters of fruit is hastened. In Joseph's 
symbolic picture the vine climbs up the wall, trails 
along its top, and in luxuriant profusion hangs 
down on the other side. 

The vine is indigenous to Palestine. It grows 
wild there. But its greatest beauty, its largest yield, 
its most delicious flavor, are the result of culture. 



JACOB'S SONS 169 

In that culture we find the well, the wall, and the 
pruning knife. Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a 
fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over 
the wall. 

The meaning of the symbol is fruit fulness. In 
Joseph there is the fruitfulness of prosperity; a 
prosperity which nothing seems to hinder. Even 
life's sorrows are to him the incisions of the prun- 
ing knife's keen edge, producing the greater growth 
and the larger yield. He is a man of destiny, whose 
onward, upward move nothing can arrest. Behold 
the vine. Will you destroy it ? Lop off its vigor- 
ous branch. Gaining strength from its wound, it 
sends forth more and stronger shoots. Wall it 
about. It climbs the wall. It covers the wall. It 
hangs down on the other side. It prepares and 
proffers, for its wounds, the richer clusters of its 
luscious, mellow, fragrant fruit. This is faithfully 
symbolic of Joseph's life. It is a true picture of 
his strange and wonderful career. 



II. THE VINE PLANTED, OR JOSEPH IN HIS 

CHILDHOOD HOME 

Joseph the lad is the vine of Eshcol. Eshcol 
was his home. We come at once to the first thrill- 
ing scene in Joseph's life. The curtain rises. We 
see Joseph the boy at home in Hebron. Hebron is 
the oldest city in Canaan and, next to Damascus, 



170 JACOB'S SONS 

probably the oldest city in the world. It was the 
home of the patriarchs, to which ever and anon 
after all their wanderings they returned. There 
Abraham spent the last years of his life. There 
he and Sarah lie buried. Isaac wanders about, but 
when you think of him as the old dim-visioned man 
you must think of him at Hebron. It was at 
Hebron the ebbing sands of his life's day glided 
away. Jacob, having fallen out with his father- 
in-law in the East, comes back to Hebron and lives 
with his father Isaac. 

Hebron, the patriarchal homestead, is in the 
midst of Eshcol, a valley of exquisite beauty, famed 
for the luxuriance of its vines and the delicious 
flavor of its grapes. The grapes of Eshcol are pro- 
verbial. Many an ancient vine in that lovely vale 
to-day yields to the weary traveler its precious fruit. 
The boyhood of Joseph was spent amid these natu- 
ral bowers of graceful vines. There with wild de- 
light he roamed and sported, where some hundreds 
of years later twelve spies, creeping in silence and 
with caution, cut the huge cluster of grapes and 
carried it as a trophy to the waiting host of Israel, 
a specimen of fruit from Joseph's early home. The 
vine which symbolizes Joseph may be considered a 
vine of Eshcol. 

But look within his home. Who are there? 
His aged grandfather Isaac still lives. He is there 
with his whitened locks and dim-visioned eyes. 



JACOB'S SONS 171 

There is Jacob. There is Leah. Zilpah and Bil- 
hah are there. There are Joseph and Benjamin. 
The other ten sons are away from home, feeding 
their flocks upon the mountains. One important 
person of the household is absent — Rachel. Nor 
will she ever return to cheer the home whose bright 
light she had been. Rachel is dead. She did not 
reach Hebron, but died on the way. She lived in 
her son, the infant Benjamin. So Joseph was early 
deprived of the priceless blessing of a faithful 
mother's care. Therefore he received a double 
share of his father's love. Jacob pours out his 
heart's strongest love on the firstborn son of 
Rachel so tenderly beloved. He gives him a coat 
of many colors. Fine, beautiful, attractive, it yet 
lacked one thing to make it perfect. It was woven, 
fitted, made by hands of those who did not love. 
There was no mother's love wrought into the 
seams, hems, and stitches of the pleasing robe. 

Joseph is about tO' leave his home. Clothed in 
his bright coat, obedient to his father's command, 
he bears a message to his absent brethren. It is 
miles away, over the hills and across the streams. 
His path is beset with perils. iHe goes alone. The 
country is wild and unsettled. Ere he departs he 
bids adieu to those at home, little thinking what 
those words of parting may mean. We can well 
picture Jacob watching the lad till he disappears 
among the distant hills. The boy perhaps looks 



172 JACOB'S SONS 

back to catch a final glimpse of home embowered in 
its vines ere it fades away. Will he ever again be- 
hold it? Banish such thought of ill. Chase from 
the mind the shadows which somehow seem to fall. 
Over the mountains, across the streams, through 
dark defiles and narrow passes, with bold heart and 
elastic step, Joseph presses on. 

He comes to Shechem. The brethren are not 
there. A stranger tells him that the shepherds said 
they would go to Dothan. To Dothan Joseph 
goes. Dothan means two wells. The wells are 
there to-day, just on the mountains that from the 
southern border overlook the Valley of Jezreel. In 
joy and confidence, conscious of right, the youth 
draws near, right glad tO' meet his brethren and 
greet them with messages from home. He salutes 
them in his father's name, but for his salutation re- 
ceives fromi them' only scowls and frowns and threat- 
ening words. First death Is threatened. Then 
their hearts somewhat relent. Disrobing him and 
binding him, they lower him into one of these wells 
of Dothan. At this juncture, chancing to look over 
Jezreel's Valley, spreading beneath them far away, 
they discern in the distance a cloud of dust. It ap- 
proaches. It proves to be a caravan of merchants. 
They are on their way to Egypt, the great market 
of the world. A trade is soon effected. With 
twelve dollars in their hands what care they for 
their brother's tears or their father's woes? The 



JACOB'S SONS 173 

caravan moves on. There has been but slight de- 
lay, however momentous the transaction proves to 
be. The pit is empty. There is one added to the 
merchants' line. With quickened speed the caravan 
moves on, unimpeded in its progress by the fact 
that it nov^ carries a heart weighed down with 
bitterest sorrow, a life whose brightest prospect 
seems blighted hopelessly. 



III. THE VINE PRUNED, OR JOSEPH IN ADVERSITY 

There gathers now about the lad the shadow of 
adversity. Long, sad, and weary years are those 
of Joseph's trial. The pruning knife was sharp, 
and it was vigorously used. Only the leading fea- 
tures of these scenes we can trace. 

I. Multiplied Calamities. — It would be difficult 
to crowd into the same number of years more sor- 
rows, more troubles, graver misfortunes, heavier 
calamities, keener grief, more heartrending trials, 
than those which cast their deep, dark shadows 
across the path of the motherless youth of Eshcol. 
Each misfortune seems to come linked with that 
which preceded it by a sort of inevitable fate and 
irreversible decree. It is a very long list, quickly 
made, rapidly read, those sorrows of Joseph's life. 
He was early bereft of a mother's love and care. 
There was none tO' whom' he could unbosom child- 
hood's sorrows, to whom entrust his secret thoughts, 



174 JACOB'S SONS 

in whom he could find a safe and sacred repository 
for his confidential words^ — a mother's heart. That 
child has grief, has early felt affiiction's keen- 
edged pruning knife, who at a tender age has stood 
beside a mother's grave. Joseph felt that pang. 
Yet youthful Joseph at Rachel's tomb at Bethlehem, 
weeping over irreparable loss, has not learned sor- 
row's hardest lesson nor felt affliction's severest 
blow. This is not to be compared with much that 
follows. There was still with him one who loved 
Joseph, and loved him for his mother's sake. From 
the caresses of a kind, indulgent father the boy is 
torn, and thrust into the possession of strange and 
cruel masters. He goes a merchantable commodity 
to Egypt. Unused to hardship, he is compelled by 
his new masters to toil on over sandy stretches and 
under burning sun, until, foot-sore and weary and 
heart-sick, he reaches the scene of his future re- 
markable career. 

He is hurried to the slave market, is put upon 
the stand, is surveyed and examined and valued and 
sold into hopeless servitude. Do the departed hover 
near us? Do they discern life's checkered scenes? 
Was Rachel near to shield her boy and shelter him 
from harm!? Into slavery he goes. He follows his 
purchaser to his home. It was the first home circle 
he had seen since he left Hebron's charming scenes. 
He enters not as a son, but as Potiphar's slave. 
He enters not to be welcomed, but to be directed 



JACOB'S SONS 175 

to his work. Exactly how long he thus remained 
in menial service we do not know. The pruning 
knife was not yet cast aside. To deeper grief must 
this youth of sorrows go. 

Bereft of liberty and home and love, one jewel 
was still left to him. A poor, penniless slave in a 
foreign land, one treasure his spoilers had not taken 
away. This priceless jewel was his spotless name. 
This also now must go. Accused of fearful crime, 
of which he was perfectly innocent, he is thrust into 
prison. In the dark solitude of the Egyptian jail 
the friendless youth seems to have no prospect but 
the speedy termination of his earthly career, begun 
in hope, but blasted by multiplied calamities. Every 
prison bar, every prison guard, seems to proclaim 
that Joseph is doomed to die — ignominiously die. 
Farewell, son of sorrow! For Jacob's sake, for 
Rachel's sake, farewell! He enters the jail. The 
door is shut. Joseph is alone to weep, to wonder, 
and to pray. 

2. Multiplied Blessings. — Pruning has two fea- 
tures — the incision of the knife and the shooting 
forth of the subsequent bud; the cutting and the 
growing ; the lopping off and the increment of vine. 
Walk through the vineyard. Admire its beautiful 
growth. Where is its foliage and fruit most 
luxuriant? Where do the largest, best clusters 
hang? Here. Now look beneath the leaves and 
fruit — ^not far away from the best results a scar 



176 JACOBUS SONS 

is seen. It tells of the process of pruning. You 
can make the vine grow where you will. You 
make it grow by taking for the time its growth 
away. You make it produce by laying it bare. 

If these were prunings from- which Joseph suf- 
fered, we may look for growth and fruit just where 
the scars are left. Misfortunes crowd his life. 
Yet in each misfortune he seems the most fortunate 
of men. With intensest interest we trace the 
troubled scenes of his life. The darkest scenes ap- 
pear before us. Yet as we look on them, and weep 
over them, and see them in their bearing, we feel 
not so much inclined to call them misfortunes as 
fortunes in disguise. Reckless pruning it seems to 
be, but it produces wondrous growth and happy 
yield. 

A slave! Yes; but in slavery the most faithful 
servant of the land. From menial service he rises 
to be the ruler of his master's house. A prisoner! 
Yes; seemingly condemned to death. Yet he soon 
finds access to the jailor's heart, and is allowed 
unusual favors. In that jail there springs up a 
vine that brings to Joseph a happy release from all 
his calamities. Like Jonah's gourd, it grew up and 
bore fruit in a single night. The chief butler 
dreamed — a vine, three branches, budded, blos- 
somed, yielded fruit, fruit pressed, wine in 
Pharaoh's cup. Joseph interprets the dream. The 
butler is restored to royal favor and his former 



JACOB'S SONS 177 

office. Joseph: "Think on me, when it shall be 
well with thee." Day by day passes. No token of 
remembrance from the restored butler reaches the 
forgotten Joseph in the jail. Two years thus pass 
away. 

Royal messengers come to the jail. They ask 
for Joseph. Why for Joseph? Pharaoh is in 
trouble about his dreams. He has heard of the 
dream of the vine and its successful interpretation. 
Joseph dresses, shaves himself, and hurries to the 
palace. He hears the dream, and gives the inter- 
pretation of it. Joseph entered on that day with a 
hopeless prospect of a lingering life in prison walls. 
He enters the palace a slave and, in human judg- 
ment, a criminal, clad in prison garb. He comes 
forth from the palace. See. Who is it? Can it 
be Joseph? A pure, white linen robe adorns his 
person. He has the stately stepping of a king. 
The royal ring sparkles on his hand. A chain, not 
of slavery, not of culprit, not of iron, but a golden 
chain of regal honor adorns his neck. He is seated 
in a chariot of brilliant equipage. Its swiftly roll- 
ing wheels convey him not back to prison, but to 
his palatial residence. As he rides, heralds shout 
before him, " Bow the knee!" Joseph, the friend- 
less youth, the slave, the accused, the prisoner, is 
now ruler of the land, second only to Pharaoh, the 
ruler of the land. Was there ever another such 
transition in a day? 



178 JACOB'S SONS 

Mark this feature — how closely allied the suffer- 
ings and the honors, the prunings and the growth 
and yield. The very hand that lays him low is the 
hand that lifts him up. A dream is the occasion of 
all this trouble. This dreamer cometh. A dream 
is the occasion of his elevation. The many-colored 
coat is torn from his person at the pit. A beautiful 
robe adorns his manly form as he rides in the 
chariot of the king. 

IV. THE FRUITFUL VINE, OR JOSEPH IN PROSPERITY 

A fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well; 
whose branches run over the wall. Long pruned, 
it now is laden with rich and abundant fruit. 
Joseph's character is one of the most beautiful pre- 
sented in sacred or profane history. He was 
patient in dark ad\^ersity. He was moderate, wise, 
and considerate in dazzling prosperity. We may 
well admire his character. There seems to be one 
flaw in it, which we cannot fairly pass by without a 
mention. It seems to have been overlooked in con- 
sidering Joseph's character. Is it a slight trace of 
selfishness, which in the motherless boy was natu- 
rally though undesignedly cultivated by an indulgent 
father? We catch a trace of it in earliest life, when 
we read that he reported on his brethren to his 
father, making mention of their evil ways. This 
we do not like. We see it at its fullness when ele- 



JACOB'S SONS 179 

vated to honor, influence, and wealth he did not 
immediately communicate with his sorrowing 
father. What excuse can be made for this? The 
same thing is noticed in the fact that he named his 
firstborn son Manasseh, that is, Forgetfulness, ex- 
claiming, " God hath made me forget all my toil, 
and all my father's house." 

This only shows that Joseph was not perfect. 
He was a great and noble man. His name is writ- 
ten high in the records of lasting fame. The seven 
years of plenty rolled by. The seven years of 
famine wearily wore away. Joseph is at the helm, 
steering the vessel of state. Around him at length 
are settled Jacob and his large household. There 
are those whom Joseph loved and those whom he 
has freely forgiven. Old Isaac died in the year 
Joseph was elevated to be ruler of the land of 
Egypt. He died at Hebron and was buried in the 
family sepulcher where Abraham and Sarah and 
Rebekah rested from their labors. 

A reference to two events will conclude what we 
have to say of Joseph. 

I. Jacob Is Dead. — His body lies embalmed and 
shrouded in Goshen. Joseph fell upon his father's 
face and wept upon him and kissed him. It is filial 
love in tears. What memories thronged his brain 
as he gave vent to grief over the cold, fixed features 
of that father's face! The dying man with his latest 
breath had spoken of Rachel. Over the memories 



i8o JACOB'S SONS 

of these two loving parents Joseph could only weep'. 
" Bury me at Hebron," was Jacob's request. The 
funeral procession was formed. Joseph and his 
house, his brethren and their houses, all save the 
little ones and such others as could not go, the serv- 
ants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, the elders 
of the land of Egypt — ^^all werit. It was an impos- 
ing pageant that moved up from Goshen to Canaan's 
land. The people of Canaan said: "This is a 
grievous mourning to the Egyptians." The body 
is carried to Hebron, in the lovely vale of Eshcol, 
and there entombed. Who can imagine the 
thoughts of Joseph as once more, and only once, he 
revisits the scene of his childhood days? He 
vividly recalls that day in the distant past when in 
obedience to the voice so recently forever silenced 
he went forth from his happy home to which as a 
home he returned no more! 

2. Joseph Is Dead. — Ere Joseph died he had said, 
" God will surely visit you, and bring you out of 
this land into the land of Canaan." They em- 
balmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. 
Two hundred years roll by. The slaves of Egypt 
are hurrying to lay down their shackles and begone 
to the land of Canaan. One precious treasure they 
do not forget. ,A precious casket holds what is of 
inestimable value to the Israelites. Forty years of 
wandering they endure. But all through their 
fiery trials, in the camp of Ephraim, composed of 



JACOB'S SONS i8i 

Rachel's sons, this precious casket is borne and 
guarded. What does it contain? What precious 
legacy is within it ? Come to Shethem and we shall 
see. Their journey is now done. In a parcel of 
ground which Jacob had bought before he went to 
Egypt a grave is prepared. The casket is opened 
and the bones of Joseph are interred. Joseph took 
an oath of the children of Israel, saying : " God 
will surely visit you, and ye shall carry my bones 
from hence." 



XIII 

EPHRAIM, THE JEALOUS TRIBE 

" Ephraim and Manasseh are mine ; as Reuben and Simeon, 
they shall be mine. — Gen. 48 : 5. 
" They are the ten thousands of Ephraim." — Deut. 33 : 17. 

In the profuse blessing which Jacob showers on 
Joseph there is no intimation of the division of 
Joseph's family into two great tribes. There is 
a unity in the blessing. Joseph shall be a fruitful 
bough. We are not informed in what way his 
descendants shall share the blessing and illustrate 
its truth. We turn to Moses' farewell blessings on 
the tribes. At the close of his address to Joseph's 
host he adds these words: "They are the ten 
thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands 
of Manasseh." This is a recognition of these two 
elements of Joseph's house, and a statement of their 
relative position. We shall now seek to trace 
Joseph's blessing in Ephraim's tribe — sl fruitful 
vine, a fruitful vine by a well, whose branches run 
over the wall. We shall find in Ephraim pros- 
perity, exuberant prosperity, prosperity abused by 
arrogance and jealousy. 

182 



JACOB'S SONS 183 

It is interesting to study the varied effects of 
prosperity on men. Joseph was patient in adversity 
and prudent in dazzling prosperity. Asher yielded 
to the luxuries of his royal loaf and became indiffer- 
ent to everything but ease. Ephraim, crowned with 
all the blessings which Jacob and Moses could 
crowd into words, yielded not to effeminate luxury, 
but became haughty, proud, jealous, and arrogant. 
Ephraim is the jealous tribe. 

I. EPHRAIM^'s PROSPERITY 

The vine has a luxuriant growth. Let us 
enumerate the elements of prosperity which render 
this tribe illustrious. 

I. The Name. — Ephraim's name deserves a pass- 
ing notice. There is something in a name to help 
or hinder life's great work. There are those who 
carry burdens in their names. Others by the names 
they bear are cheered and helped along life's way. 
These old Bible names are full of meaning. Their 
meaning and their melody are often lost to us when 
we do not pause to make inquiry of them. So it is 
with Ephraim. Who has stopped his rapid read- 
ing to learn what this name may teach ? 

It was a time of plenty. Every fertile field in 
the productive valley of the Nile was surpassing all 
previous records for great harvests. The broad ex- 
panse of richest soil teems with precious grain. 



i84 JACOB'S SONS 

The conquest of the scythe is great. Harvests of 
rich abundance are gathered and stored away. 
Granaries are packed with treasures of wheat. The 
horn of plenty, surcharged with grain, overflows 
with its abundance. It is the seven years of plenty 
of which Joseph told. Amid these happy scenes 
of plenty there lay a newborn babe in Joseph's 
house. What shall be its name? How shall the 
child be called? The times suggest the name. 
Joseph speaks. He calls the child Ephraim. 
Ephraim means fruitful. " God hath caused me 
to be fruitful in the land of my affliction." The 
name is consonant with the pleasing note of fruit- 
fulness which rings throughout the Valley of the 
Nile. It seems, too, to anticipate the symbol Jacob 
is yet to give to Joseph's house — a fruitful vine. 

2'. The Blessing. — A little before the general 
blessing of Jacob's sons there is a private, smaller 
gathering at Jacob's house, in Jacob's room. Jacob 
is sick. Joseph hastens to him,, with his two sons, 
Manasseh and Ephraim. The patriarch adopts 
them as his own. They are mine, he says. Then 
he reaches out his hands to bless them. Joseph 
arranges them so that Manasseh, the older, will 
come under Jacob's right hand and Ephraim under 
the left. The patriarch's eyes are dimmed by age 
and approaching death. But he crossed his hands, 
the right hand resting on Ephraim, and the left on 
Manasseh. Joseph remonstrates to no purpose. 



JACOB'S SONS 185 

" In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee 
as Ephraim and Manasseh ; and he set Ephraim, be- 
fore Manasseh." 

How often we are called to note this inversion of 
nature's order: Abel before Cain; Abram before 
Nahor and Haran ; Isaac before Ishmael ; Jacob be- 
fore Esau; Joseph before Reuben; Ephraim before 
Manasseh. The exception almost supersedes the 
rule. 

Connected with this inversion there are several 
interesting facts that invite a casual notice. Ma- 
nasseh means forgetfulness ; forgetfulness of " all 
my father's house." Manasseh pays the price of for- 
getfulness in losing the richer blessing of the eldest 
son. While Manasseh' s name seems to militate 
against him, Ephraim's name seems to serve the 
owner of it well. It brings up the tenderest asso- 
ciations of Jacob's life. He pronounces the name 
Ephraim', and his thought by it is carried back to a 
most sacred spot. Yes, he says, I buried Rachel in 
the way of Ephrath. Ephraim and Ephrath are 
the same word with slightly different endings. Who 
can tell how much these names of Joseph's sons had 
to do with the blessings they received? 

Mark too the words : "As Reuben and Simeon 
are mine, so Ephraim and Manasseh are mine." 
Advanced not only from the grade of grandsons to 
that of sons, but they are put side by side with the 
two oldest sons. This makes Ephraim the compeer 



i86 JACOB'S SONS 

of Jacob's oldest son. In after days Ephraim 
claimed supremacy of all the host of Israel, and at- 
tained it too. 

3. His Numbers. — While the numbers of the tribe 
do not at once mount up to the highest figures, yet 
Ephraim early gave promise of his future great 
career. In estimating the numbers of this tribe we 
must remember that Joseph was next to the young- 
est of his father's family; that his immediate 
family seems to have been small, and that Ephraim 
represents only a part of Joseph's house. We must 
also take into the account the fact that Ephraim 
received a heavy shock and a serious check in a cer- 
tain affair which is incidentally alluded to in the 
Bible record. This allusion may have wholly es- 
caped the notice of casual readers, i Chr. 7: 21 — 
" The sons of Ephraim, whom the men of Gath 
slew, because they came down to take away their 
cattle." After Jacob's death, and before the Israel- 
ites were reduced to slavery in Egypt, the sons of 
Ephraim made a raid upon the men of Gath. The 
Jewish Rabbins say that they intended to take the 
land of Canaan. Whatsoever their object was, the 
plan signally failed, and many men of Ephraim 
were slain. Their father Ephraim mourned over 
his fallen sons, and named his next son Beriah in 
commemoration of his sorrow. Of this son of sor- 
row came Ephraim' s greatest hero, who shed a 
luster not on his tribe alone, but on all Israel. 



JACOB'S SONS 187 

4. The Great Hero. — Many eminent names are 
found in Ephraim's lists. Among them there is 
one pre-eminent, whose glory eclipses all the rest. 
He is of Beriah's house, where the shadows of sor- 
row early fell because of Ephraim's sad disaster, 
when Ephraim mourned his fallen sons. Great 
blessings often emerge from the shadows. Out of 
the crucial fire comes the purest gold. Who is this 
hero of Ephraim's tribe? 

The host of Israel is camped in Moab's height, 
near Jordan's brink, close by the land of Canaan. 
Israel is ready now to cross. One hindrance re- 
mains. How strange! He who led them all the 
way is their hindrance now. Moses cannot cross, 
and he is in command. In reverential awe the peo- 
ple are gathered around the Sacred Tent. Two 
men approach the Sanctuary door. In solemn still- 
ness the people watch, thrilled with the deep feeling 
that some great event portends. Moses and Joshua 
walk side by side toward the outer curtain of the 
Tent, and then disappear beyond its heavy folds. 
They reappear. There has come about a change. 
Moses now has no more to do but say farewell, as- 
cend the height of Pisgah and die by divine com- 
mand. Joshua is in command; Joshua, the son of 
Nun, of Beriah's house, and of the tribe of Ephraim. 

Proud moment was this for Joseph's house and 
Ephraim's tribe. With what a thrill of pleasure 
they must have seen their noble chieftain successor 



1 88 JACOB'S SONS 

to the mighty and incomparable Moses, commander 
of Israel's host. In all that vast company he was 
the only man, save one, who, having crossed the 
Red Sea forty years before, was now permitted to 
pass over Jordan into the land. 

From the moment when Joshua assumed com- 
mand there is no doubt the tribe of Ephraim wielded 
the greatest influence in Israel. It claimed and 
held supremacy in all the host. We are apt to over- 
look this fact, because we are familiar with the 
future glories of Judah's royal line. Judah's 
glories had not yet fully come. From the passage 
of the Jordan for a period of four hundred years 
Ephraim largely influences the destinies of Israel; 
certainly more than any other tribe. Though for 
a long time among the smaller tribes, yet Ephraim 
seemed borne along by a consciousness of power, 
right, inheritance worthy of their great ancestor 
who sat next to Pharaoh on the throne. With 
brave hearts and strong wills and firm resolves 
they were determined to win the day. Their in- 
domitable purpose to rule nothing could repress. 

5. His Inheritance. — His inheritance was the 
physical center of the land. Our geographical ref- 
erences thus far have been to the north, south, east, 
and west of the land. We have said little of the 
central portion of Canaan. We have tarried a while 
amid the wild and rugged hills of Gilead; we have 
traced the wilderness and vine-clad hills of Judah; 



JACOB'S SONS 189 

we have looked down on the seaboard plains of 
Shephelah, Sharon, and Acre ; we have admired the 
grand heights and awful depths of Lebanon and 
Hermon in the land of Naphtali ; we have seen the 
lovely valley of Jezreel : but in Ephraim's home, the 
center of the land, we have a scenery different from 
all the rest. There is no wilderness, no tangled 
growth, but abundant olive groves, of softest color 
and most attractive beauty. There are no moun- 
tain torrents, wildly leaping, impetuously dashing 
down, but many a crystal fountain and gently flow- 
ing brook. It is these fountains, rills, and brooks 
that give beauty to this central portion of the land. 
From Sharon's plain to Jordan's lowly vale 
Ephraim's inheritance abounds with lovely scenes 
of peaceful, quiet, gentle beauty. 

It is the ecclesiastical center of the land. Within 
its borders the Tabernacle stood for four hundred 
years. From Joshua to David Shiloh was the 
sacred shrine. There the lots were drawn in the 
distribution of the land. Among all the tribes 
Ephraim alone, when his lot was drawn, found him- 
self already at his home. To Ephraim's land thrice 
every year the tribes all came to celebrate the great 
annual feasts. 

It is the civil center of the land. For many years 
the government proceeded from Ephraim's land. 
It really seemed that Ephraim held all the honors of 
the land. Shechem is the seat of government. It 



190 JACOB'S SONS 

rests between Ebal on the north and Gerizim on the 
south. Near its eastern limit this little vale is 
scarcely sixty rods wide. From these mountain- 
sides were pronounced the curses and the blessings. 
This little valley rang with the loud Amen of the 
assembled host. 

Within a small circle around Shechem cluster 
many sacred memories and relics of great historic 
events. There is Jacob's well, illustrious as Jacob's 
well, and rendered more so by the fact that it is one 
of the few spots, if not the only spot, of the land 
of which it may be positively stated that the Lord 
was once exactly there. We pass around the little 
circuit of the well and we have crossed the Saviour's 
tracks. The wonder is that a well should have been 
cut there through the rock, a deep well, when 
numerous fountains bubble up all over the little 
vale. It is the best watered part of Palestine. But 
the well is there. Someone made it. There is no 
reasonable doubt that it is veritably Jacob's well. 

Another sacred place invites our notice. Amid 
the corn-fields that encroach on Ebal's side a tomb 
is seen, within wlhich Jacob's bones were laid. The 
great ancestor's sepulcher is well placed amid the 
happy scenes and prosperous homes of Ephraim. 

High above the fertile vale rise the heights of 
Gerizim and Ebal. Here it is that the people re- 
newed their covenant vows and listened to the 
faltering voice of dying Joshua. Here, as the last 



JACOB'S SONS 191 

act of his memorable life, Joshua reared the witness 
stone where Abraham built his first altar, and 
where Jacob buried the idol gods so strangely found 
within his camp. Surely Ephraim's was the land 
of sacred memories. These were great historic 
scenes which as memorials greeted Israel's eyes and 
stirred their patriotic souls. 

Ephraim seemed born to rule. Ephraim's home 
seemed fitted for a monarch's throne. Not only 
abounding in monuments of national greatness and 
glory, but the land itself was a national watch-tower 
whence to survey the land. Where first on your 
northward journey do you catch a glimpse of Her- 
mon's snowy peak? On Ephraim's height. Where 
can you, looking west, see the shining waters of the 
Mediterranean Sea, and turning eastward descry 
the dark outlines of Gilead's and Moab's heights? 
On Ephraim's high tableland. 

If noble qualities are inherited from illustrious 
parentage, if patriarchal blessings are worthy of 
regard, if environment helps to make the man, then 
where in all the host of Israel shall we look for 
the elements of true greatness, patriotism, renown, 
heroism, if not among the favored sons of Ephraim? 
Ephraim is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine by a well, 
whose branches run over the wall. From the pas- 
sage of Jordan to the establishment of Saul as king, 
Ephraim is the ruling tribe. 



ig2 JACOB'S SONS X 

II. EPHRAIM^S JEALOUSY 

Surely Ephraim had enough to gratify a worthy 
ambition. But it is often true that the more we 
have the larger our desires grow. Wealth consists 
not in what we possess, but in contentment with 
what we have, and in what we do not crave. A 
contented, meek, and humble spirit is greater riches 
than the ten thousands of Ephraim. Ephraim was 
a jealous tribe. He could not forget Jacob's words, 
" As Reuben and Simeon are mine, so Ephraim 
and Manasseh are mine." As Reuben, so Ephraim. 
All the while he seems afraid that someone will 
cheat him out of what he regards his birthright as 
the compeer of Jacob's eldest son. He is as one 
who never thinks that he is rising in the world un- 
less someone else is getting trampled down. He 
will ascend, but it must be on the ruined fortunes 
of others. See how this crops out in Ephraim's 
history. 

Gideon returns, crowned with glory, after his 
wonderful victory over the Midianites. With three 
hundred men he put the mighty host to flight. That 
was glory, uncommon glory. Some of the other 
tribes may reap a little honor from the victory. 
What does Ephraim think? If the venture had 
ended in defeat it would have been what such rash 
men deserve! But it was a victory! "Why hast 
thou served us thus, that thou calledst us not, when 



JACOB'S SONS 193 

thou wentest to fight with the Midianites?'' 
Gideon : ''Is not the gleaning of the grapes of 
Ephraim better than the vintage of Abi-ezer ? " 
Surely you have enough glory to spare me this one 
honor. ; ' ■ 

Jephthah comes home with victory perched on 
his standard. Israel has again been triumphant. 
The true patriot ought to rejoice. Jealousy can 
never be patriotic. Ephraim would rather see the 
other tribes defeated than victorious without his 
aid. Ephraim' s idea of rivalry was not the gener- 
ous sort, where all may rise together; but like the 
" see-saw," where for one to rise the other must go 
down. Jephthah comes home. His heart is op- 
pressed by the calamity which has fallen on his 
home. Hear Ephraim : " Wherefore passedst thou 
over to fight against the children of Ammon, and 
didst not call us to go with thee? We will burn 
thy house upon thee with fire." Bold troopers 
could not stand that. War is a game at which two 
can play. The Ephraimites, more querulous than 
mighty, are put to flight by Jephthah's brave men. 
The remnant rush down to cross the Jordan and 
get home; but sentinels already guard the Jordan 
fords. " Are you an Ephraimite ? " Oh, no ! 
Say Shibboleth. " Sibboleth." The Ephraimite 
could not say Shibboleth. Forty-two thousand 
Ephraimites were slain that day. 

David is carried back to his palace after Absalom 



194 JACOB'S SONS 

is slain. His friends have rallied around him. It 
is no time to wait for the tardy. When the glad 
occasion is all over, here come the Ephraimites. 
" Why did ye despise us that our advice should not 
be first had in bringing back our king? And the 
words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the 
words of the men of Ephraim." No wonder. 
Judah was provoked. It was the muttering of 
the coming storm that was to desolate the land: 
Judah and Ephraim. 

We enter now upon a thrilling page of Israel's 
history, in which we see the two great tribes of 
Judah and Ephraim arrayed against each other. 
We trace the causes and the momentous results of 
the intertribal strife. David is crowned as king. 
David is a man of Judah. Ephraim in sullen si- 
lence yields, a silence which promises no good. 
David establishes his throne in Hebron within 
Judah's borders. Shechem is shorn of its metro- 
politan glories. Shechem was in Ephraim's land. 
Ephraim' mutters indignation and cherishes revenge. 
Another blow is dealt the proud and jealous tribe. 
The holy shrine of Shiloh is robbed of its sacred 
honors. The Tabernacle is reared in the new city 
of Jerusalem. The honors have all been snatched 
from Ephraim. His land has been made a land of 
relics, that point to glories past. 

Jealousy puts on the fuel and fans the fire. Pres- 
ently the fire will burst forth into blaze and will 



JACOBUS SONS 195 

consume. From what we know of Ephraim we 
judge he will not yield without a struggle. The 
glories of David's reign seem to have held Ephraim 
in abeyance — in abeyance only. There was no love 
for even David. He was Judah's king. Solomon 
reigns in peace. The sullen spirit of Ephraim 
watches and waits for its desired opportunity. 

At Solomon's court a young Ephraimite is seen 
— a marked young man, a soldier of some distinc- 
tion. Jeroboam is his name. One day he walks 
out of Jerusalem alone. A prophet of Shiloh — old 
abandoned Shiloh, shrine of reminiscent glory, 
Ephraim's deserted holy place — meets him, tears 
his prophetic robe into twelve pieces and gives 
Jeroboam ten, and promises to him a kingdom. 
Solomon hears of it. Jeroboam seeks safety by 
flight to Egypt. So his bright destiny seems to 
fail. Solomon dies. Rehoboam is tO' be crowned. 
Where shall the coronation take place? Something 
must be done to satisfy the Ephraimites. He will 
be crowned at the old Ephraimite capital at 
Shechem. He will give them a pageant, as their 
power is gone. He miscalculates the men. A 
show will not suffice to gratify the men that claim 
a great reality of right. 

The grand procession is accomplished, the 
pageant is done, the inspiring ceremony has con- 
cluded. The crown now rests on Rehoboam' s 
head. Is Ephraim satisfied? Is he content be- 



196 JACOBUS SONS 

cause his old capital has been mocked by an empty 
rite? 

Make way! Here comes a man. He rushes 
into the presence of the new-made king. Reho- 
boam's countenance falls as he sees before him his 
father's old enemy. In respectful terms Jeroboam 
addresses the king, respectful, but positive and de- 
cided : " Thy father made our yoke heavy. Now 
make it lighter and we will serve thee." The old 
counselors advise concession. The young coun- 
selors advise more rigorous measures. Rehoboam : 
" My father miade your yokes heavy : I will add to 
your yokes. My father chastened you with whips: 
I will chasten you with scorpions." 

Foolish man ! He threw away his kingdom by a 
word. As well strike a match on the head of a 
powder keg as speak thus to the chafed spirit of 
Ephraim. What sound is this? Is it " Long live 
the king"? Listen again. Ebal and Gerizim re- 
sound with the warlike shout. " To your tents, O 
Israel ! What portion have we in David's house ? 
Neither have we inheritance in the Son of Jesse." 
To your tents ! To arms ! 

Where is Rehoboam? He came in state, with 
himi a royal retinue. He came to throw dust into 
the eyes of these restless Ephraimites. But they 
were smarter than he. See, he flees in his chariot, 
as on wings of the wind he is borne. Nor does he 



JACOB'S SONS 197 

stop till he is safely guarded in his palace at Jeru- 
salem. 

It was the last time a king of Judah thought of 
being crowned in Ephraim's capital. 

Another coronation is seen at Shechem. The 
crown of Israel is placed on Jeroboam^s head. 
The grand old kingdom of Saul, David, and Solo- 
mon is rent in twain. On its ruins two kingdoms 
rise: Judah under the foolish Rehoboam and 
Israel under crafty Jeroboam. Why the rent? 
Need we ask? It was not an aspiration after 
greater liberty. It was not because of the burdens 
of taxation. They incurred heavier burdens. It 
was the outbreaking of long pent-up hatred. It 
was jealousy repressed, then resistless. The story 
is told in a few words : The words of the men of 
Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of 
Ephraim. 



XIV 

MANASSEH 

" They are the thousands of Manasseh/' 

— Deut. S3: 17. 

Manasseh was Joseph's eldest son, but after 
Jacob's blessing he takes the second place. Before 
the blessing it is Manasseh and Ephraim. After 
the blessing it is Ephraim and Manasseh. We are 
now to consider the less eminent son and less 
eminent tribe of Joseph's house. While the larger 
blessing went to Ephraim, a rich blessing was given 
to Manasseh. " He shall become a people, and he 
also shall be great." The glories of Manasseh's 
tribe, though surpassed by the celebrity of Ephraim, 
still were great. The tribe ranked high in the host 
of Israel. In Manasseh's history are not wanting 
traces of Joseph's symbol : a fruitful vine, a fruitful 
vine by a well, whose branches run over the wall. 
The prosperity of this tribe was great, beautifully 
illustrating Jacob's blessing on Joseph : " whose 
branches run over the wall." We shall notice the 
walls over which ran the branches of this luxuriant 
vine. 

198 



JACOB'S SONS 199 

I. THE WALL OF ADVERSITY 

The branches of this vine triumphed over the 
wall of adversity; a wall at whose base such mul- 
titudes lie in helpless lifelessness or in hopeless 
apathy. Not so is it with Manasseh. Two items 
of adversity invite our notice. 

I. In the Personal History of Manasseh. — ^The 
firstborn son, born amid scenes of great abundance 
and of royal honors which by Pharaoh's command 
were bestowed on Joseph, named Manasseh because 
welcomed as a suggestion of Joseph's forgetfulness 
of all his sorrows, the strong affection of Joseph 
seemed to center on this son, and to be undiverted 
from him even when Ephraim was' born. Ma- 
nasseh seems to have been Joseph's favorite son. 
Doubtless both these boys, like Moses at a later day, 
were educated in all branches of Egyptian lore. 
The ruler of the land would scarcely allow his sons, 
the pride of his heart and home, to grow up in 
ignorance and plainness. Cultured, according to 
the times, by contact with nobility and royalty it- 
self, these youths were very unlike the plain herds- 
men and shepherds of Goshen, Israel's abode. 

Tradition claims that the interpreter whom 
Joseph employed to communicate with his brethren 
when he wished to seem not acquainted with their 
language was none other than Manasseh, whom, if 
he had forgotten his father's house, Joseph had not 



200 JACOB'S SONS 

forgotten to teach his father's language. Tradi- 
tion also says that when Simeon's Samson-Hke 
strength bade defiance to Joseph's servants and they 
could not bind him, a youth stepped forth and by 
superior strength bound him with strong cords, and 
that the powerful youth was Manasseh. There 
seems to have been no natural inferiority in Ma- 
nasseh. So far as there is any evidence at all, his 
was a splendid physique, herculean strength, some 
education, polished manners, and winsome ways 
that endeared him to his father, secured and re- 
tained paternal love. There was no natural defect, 
no inherent inferiority, that marked the eldest son 
for subordinate rank. 

Joseph brings his two sons to Jacob for his 
patriarchal blessing — for Manasseh and Ephraim. 
Most unexpectedly, most persistently, most arbi- 
trarily, the dim-visioned patriarch crosses his 
hands. He defies Joseph, who remonstrates ; defies 
nature, that asserts her claim ; defies rights that es- 
tablish and confirm expectation, and inverts the 
order of the names and the value of the blessings 
he bestows. This is Manasseh's first adversity. 
He is degraded fromi his birthright to the second 
place for no reason we can discern. Like Esau he 
was degraded. But unlike Esau, he swears no 
vengeance against his younger though preferred and 
honored brother. Hand in hand they come to 
their grandfather's house, and, to Manasseh's credit 



JACOB'S SONS ^01 

be it said, so far as we can trace events, bound by 
fraternal love they return to their palatial home. 
The vine drooped not, but ran over adversity's 
high, steep, rugged wall. 

2. In the Tribal History of Manasseh. — The 
forty years of wandering in the wilderness were a 
terrible wall of adversity. Pathless ways, raven- 
ous beasts, fiery serpents, scorching sun, burning 
sand, fearful judgments, rolling thunders, quaking 
earth, frequent deaths, sad burials of the loved 
along the way, rapid marches, long pilgrimages, 
weary waitings, great reverses: it seems enough to 
wear life out and quench the fire of hope. Long, 
long dreary years — when will they cease ? It is not 
surprising that some of the tribes at least should 
complete their forty years of pilgrimage with 
greatly reduced numbers. We should expect but a 
remnant of a host to reach the limit of their pro- 
tracted woes. 

They camp near Jordan's brink. The swollen 
stream is all that now divides them from the 
promised land, the long-desired Canaan. The 
journey is completed. We move among them and 
listen to their reminiscent story. Five of these 
tribes have lost in numbers. How is it with 
Simeon? He has but a remnant left. His roll 
falls 37,000 short. Ephraim and Naphtali fall short 
8000 each. Gad is short by 5000 men. Reuben 
is less by 2700 names. No wonder! It is rather 



202 JACOB'S SONS 

strange that anyone is left to tell the story of ac- 
cuniiUlated and protracted woes. But seven tribes 
have gained. Dan, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, and 
Asher have gained each a few thousands. One 
tribe counts in its list 20,500 more names than when 
it filed out of Sinai's camp in the shadow of the 
sacred mount. It has fed on desert sands; it has 
grown on scorching winds ; it has multiplied amid 
diseases, plagues, poisons, and frequent deaths. Do 
we imagine what tribe that is? It is Manasseh, the 
twelfth in numbers, the very least at the beginning 
of the march ; the sixth in size when the tribal roll is 
called on the border of the promised land: whose 
branches run over adversity's high wall. 

II. THE WALL OF GIGANTIC FOES 

Let us listen to the story of one of Manasseh's 
heroic deeds. The time is just before Israel crosses 
the Jordan to enter Canaan's goodly land. 

On the east of Jordan, reaching northward from 
Gilead to the base of the snowy Hermon, lies the 
famous land of Bashan. Like the land of Naphtali, 
which it joins at Hermon's base, Bashan is the land 
of poetry and song. Not that it has given to the 
world famous poets and songsters, but it has given 
songs and poems to the geniuses of other lands. 
There are poems in its hills and dales and streams. 
Many a happy thought has been garnished by its 



JACOB'S SONS 203 

flowers. Among the weeping willows of Babylon 
Ezekiel delights to sing of Bashan's mighty oaks. 
David far in the south beautifies his sacred songs 
with allusions to Bashan's mountain wilds. Jere- 
miah, in the time of Israel's dearth, speaks of Ba- 
shan's luxuriant pasture grounds. Micah, Judah's 
out-of-door prophet, reminds us of Bashan's fer- 
tile soil and lowing herds of fattened cattle. It is a 
glorious mountain land, abounding in fortresses 
where bristling warriors in safety dwell, inter- 
spersed with as fine a pasture land as the world af- 
fords. Such is the general character of the land — a 
tempting prize for the spoiler's hand. Happy the 
people who can secure this rich inheritance. 

But there is one feature of it which has not 
yet been mentioned. At the time to which our 
thoughts are turned it is the realm of a giant king. 
Forty years before, the frightened spies, recently 
from Eshcol, told about the giants of the land. 
Fright magnified their vision. Scared people see 
largely. We are like grasshoppers in their sight, 
so said the spies. But here in Bashan a genuine 
giant lives. Og, King of Bashan, is his name. He 
is the last of his mighty race. We need not fall 
back on absurd legends of his wonderful size; as, 
for instance, that he was so tall that the waters of 
the flood came up only to his thighs, and he waded 
through. Scripture facts are wonderful enough. 
We have the dimensions of his bed given in the 



204 JACOBUS SONS 

Bible. Thus we can come very near his stature. 
His bed was fifteen feet by six feet. A man approxi- 
mating fifteen feet would be no small curiosity in 
this day, and, being warlike, would strike no small 
terror to the heart of his foe. 

His kingdom was all Bashan. His capital was 
the fortress Edrei, the meaning of which is 
"strength." Its location is a strange one. With- 
out water, save what is caught from the clouds of 
heaven ; without access, except over sharp rocks and 
through defiles almost impracticable: strength and 
security are the grand objects sought and found in 
this fortress amid Bashan's wilds. This rocky castle 
of old King Og rears its rugged battlements from a 
plain that, gently undulating like the sea and arrayed 
in the verdure of a paradise, spreads out around the 
fortress. Do you see the picture? Mountains all 
around like a wall raised up against the sky ; within, 
a lovely, fertile, undulating vale; in the center a 
frowning fortress, rugged sides, bristling battle- 
ments : within all that, at the center of all the scene, 
the ruling spirit of the realm, Og, giant King of 
Bashan. 

See yonder in the distance a host of warriors. 
Cautiously they file through the narrow mountain- 
way. They descend into the valley, there pitch their 
tents. They camp in the garden of the giant king. 
Who are these brave men ? They are of Israel. But 
not all Israel is there. The captain of the little 



JACOB'S SONS 205 

army is Jair, the chieftain of Manasseh's tribe. 
These eager soldiers are Manasseh's brave and fear- 
less men. Will they storm that castle? Will they 
sacrifice their lives on those rugged rocks? They 
are brave, but they are not rash. In Jair, their cap- 
tain, there beats an unfearing heart, there reigns a 
cool, strategic skill. He camps and waits. 

Now! There is just what he has been waiting 
for. The castle door opens. Soldiers from within 
come forth. Towering above them: all there comes 
the giant Og himself. Will these men of Manasseh 
turn and flee? Not they. Forward is the word of 
Jair. Eagerly the men obey. On the plain of Edrei 
there is a mighty conflict, giant bodies against giant 
souls. Terrific is the clash. But at last the gigan- 
tic king falls, his warriors turn and flee. Jair and 
his brave band are victors of the field. Edrei's 
frowning heights are now their own. 

This is but a beginning. Jair and his braves cap- 
ture sixty cities fenced with high walls, gates and 
bars. They sweep the land. How strange this 
seems to us in this land of ours, this land of great 
distances ! A Httle state of Bashan, twenty by thirty 
miles, has sixty cities. It seems incredible. Many 
a doubt overtakes the Bible-reader here. Many 
other doubts we have are as foundationless as these, 
for the cities are in that land to-day. The cities of 
Bashan stand to-day, scarcely ruins, but tenantless. 
The houses are there to-day, built of massive stone — 



2o6 JACOB'S SONS 

stone roofls, stone doors, stone hinges, unimpaired 
by the storms of thirty-five hundred years that have 
swept over them. There stands old Edrei, which 
Jair, captain of Manasseh's band, wrested from, Ba- 
shan's giant king. 

Bashan was subdued. The host of Israel is ready 
to cross the Jordan and possess the promised land. 
Reuben and Gad, because of their great herds of 
cattle, ask to be settled in the rich pasture lands of 
Gilead. Are we surprised to learn that a committee 
comes from Manasseh's tribe to request for some of 
them a settlement in Bashan's hills? Not because 
they are herdsmen and shepherds. The reason is 
very plain. They wish their homes in the land which 
with God's help they have wrested from the giant 
foe. Hence we find the record that half of Ma- 
nasseh's tribe settled on the east side of Jordan, and 
occupied all Bashan. Looking on the map of tribal 
settlement, we find the name of Manasseh just above 
the name of Gad on the east of Jordan. Half of 
Manasseh's tribe settled there. 

This land is rendered more illustrious in future 
days. Down the western slope of Bashan's table- 
land ran the herd of swine into the sea, driven by 
the demons Jesus cast out from the unhappy man. 
On Bashan's grassy slopes the thousands sat when 
Jesus multiplied the loaves and gave them, all to eat. 
Here too is that Arabia into which Saul of Tarsus 
went to learn of God in solitude. 



JACOB'S SONS 207 

Manasseh is as the fruitful vine, whose branches 
run over the wall. 

III. THE WALL OF OPPOSING HOSTS 

Manasseh's spirit, undaunted by adversity, un- 
daunted by gigantic foes, is equally undaunted by 
overwhelming numbers of his opposing hosts. But 
once more in the history of the nation does Manasseh 
come to the front and engage the nation's eye. We 
may appropriately notice here a prominent trait of 
this noted tribe, a trait worthy of highest admira- 
tion. Possessing truly heroic qualities, the tribe 
never seems greedy of applause. Always brave and 
warlike, Manasseh never seems to seek personal 
glory. He took little part in the management of 
public affairs. He left that to Ephraim. But he 
was always ready for emergencies. Manasseh has 
a record in which there is very little that is wrong 
and much that is deserving of highest commenda- 
tion. 

Those of this tribe who did not settle in Bashan 
found an ample inheritance west of Jordan. Their 
portion reached from Carmel's dense forests on the 
seaboard to Jordan on the east, just south of the 
valley of Jezreel. In Manasseh's portion were Do- 
than's wells, into one of which Joseph the lad was 
put. Happy coincidence it is that this relic of the 
past should fall within the inheritance of Joseph's 
sons. 



2o8 JACOB'S SONS 

The incident to which we now turn is one of the 
most renowned in all history, and confers chief glory 
on Manasseh's tribe. 

Two hundred years had passed since the crossing 
of the Jordan and the settlement in the land. What 
happy, prosperous years they might have been! To 
what happy results they might have led! If the 
people had obeyed God's Word all would have gone 
on well. But two hundred years of disobedience 
were yielding now their bitter fruit. Look over the 
land and see its desolation at the time to which we 
turn. Every year hordes of enemies scour the land 
from end to end and sweep away its produce. The 
farmer breaks up his ground, sows, and, just as he 
prepares to reap, down comes a horde of heathen, 
like the bird of prey that watches for its victim and 
swoops down on it, and garners the wheat and leaves 
the farmer to starve. The people become perfectly 
broken-hearted and discouraged. Take the history 
of one family. It is the picture of all. 

Abi-ezer with his family, with sad heart, leaves 
his comfortable home and hides from the cruel foe 
in some den or cave of earth. He and his go out 
from day to day and cultivate a little piece of land 
hidden in some mountain glen, hoping that the ma- 
rauders may overlook it in their search. Day 
by day one less the sons come home. The youths 
have been found and slain. At last one son is left 
in this sorrowing* family of Manasseh's tribe. His 



JACOBUS SONS 209 

name Is Gideon. For seven long weary years this 
sort of life is lived. 

Gideon alone in a sequestered nook is busy thresh- 
ing the wheat which he has succeeded in saving 
from the grasping hands of cruel Midianites. He 
is threshing it in a wine vat, where in past days 
merrily the song of vintage rang and nimbly moved 
the dancers' feet. All now is silent grief. Even 
Gideon may never reach his home. He may even 
now be watched by those who let him thresh, but 
who will take the grain. A voice not far away 
breaks the silence. Gideon, startled in his solitude, 
turns, and lo ! a stranger whose approach had been 
unheard now speaks : " The Lord is with thee, thou 
mighty man of valor." " Then why thus? Where 
are His miracles?" "Thou shalt save Israel from 
the hand of the Midianites." Gideon prays to be 
excused from, such a task. His hope is gone. With 
true hospitality, from his limited supply he provides 
a sim.ple repast. The rock becomes an altar, the 
food a sacrifice, flames burst forth to consume the 
offering. The stranger has vanished. So strange, 
so sudden, the apparition, Gideon recoils. He wishes 
some greater assurance. His thought is in a whirl. 

Gideon put a fleece of wool on the floor. He 
asked the Lord to let the dew be on the fleece and 
not on the floor — and it was so. Again, he asked 
that the fleece be dry and the floor wet with dew — 
and it was so. Then fled his doubts. He believed 



2IO JACOB'S SONS 

in his call and began his work. He sounds the trum- 
pet, whose music had so long been silent. How its 
music rang through the land ! The veterans of olden 
days in their hiding-places heard the familiar sound. 
They could not stay in the shadows of the caves and 
dens. The old war horse will prance when the mar- 
tial music sounds. These men of Israel come from 
their haunts to Gideon's camp on Gilboa's mountain- 
side. Sleeping patriotism is waking up. Trem- 
bling spirits are shaking off their fears. How 
many? Thirty-two thousand. Good! But look 
at four times thirty-two thousand Midianites camp- 
ing in Jezreel's plain. 

To-morrow's work will be hard. Let every trem- 
bling soul begone. Ten thousand go. There are 
still too miany. Go down to the spring of Harod. 
Everyone that lappeth water like a dog, these shall 
achieve the victory over Midian. Three hundred 
men in their eagerness lap up the water to quench 
their thirst. By these, says God, the victory shall 
come. 

It is night. Mountains and vales are draped in 
darkness. Gideon and two others creep down to 
the edge of Midian's camp. The host is sleeping. 
No; not all. In one tent all are wide awake. An 
Arab soldier tells his dream. " A cake of barley 
tumbled in among the Midianites, and put them all 
to flight. This is nothing but the sword of Gideon." 
The listeners creep away. 



JACOB'S SONS 211 

Three companres surround the camp. Their 
armor is strange^ — lamps, pitchers, and trumpets. 
That is all. Their lamps are in their pitchers and 
their trumpets are as silent as death. In an in- 
stant three hundred pitchers are crashed upon the 
earth, three hundred lamps flare up around the 
camp, three hundred trumpets with piercing peal 
break the night's restful silence. Then a terri- 
ble war cry, " Jehovah and Gideon ! " echoes about 
the camp. The sleeping host awakes. Every man's 
sword is turned against his brother. Through 
the darkness they flee for Jordan's fords. Oreb, 
Zeeb, Zebah, and Zalmunnah pay the penalties 
of war in blood and death. " Thus was Mid- 
ian subdued before the children of Israel, so that 
they lifted up their heads no more." The land 
had peace for forty years, during the days of 
Gideon, Manasseh's noblest hero and Israel's dis- 
tinguished judge. His name in military lists ranks 
beside Leonidas, who with his noble Spartan band 
conferred undying fame on Greece. Israel's history, 
Israel's poetry, and Israel's sons luxuriate in allu- 
sions to Gideon and his courageous band. 

IV. — THE WALL OF TEMPTATION 

There was in reserve a greater glory for Gideon, 
and through him for Manasseh's tribe. A great 
temptation is placed before him. Before tempta- 



212 JACOB'S SONS 

tion many fall. Many heroes have been lost by 
listening to the siren's voice, that comes wafted by 
gentlest zephyrs with pleasing cadence to the ear. 
Temptation's gentle call has wrought ruin where 
ruder voices have failed. Several tribes of Israel 
can boast the honors of a royalty possessed. Ma- 
nasseh alone can boast a royalty declined. It is great 
to be a king; it is sometimes greater to refuse a 
proffered crown and throne. It is glorious to rule 
a nation ; it is more glorious to rule the kingdom of 
one's self. 

Gideon comes back in the flush of victory. From 
the hidden threshing floor of Abi-ezer he has 
mounted in a day to national fame. His praises are 
proclaimed throughout the land. Behold the happy 
change ! The homes of Israel are once more scenes 
of joy. Gardens bloom again; fields are tilled 
again ; songs of gladness are heard in place of wail- 
ings of despair. Gideon is the instrument of it all. 
Many look not beyond the instrument. By just 
such fruit of victory heroes have been ruined. 

The men of Israel say to Gideon : " Rule thou 
over us, thou and thy son and thy son's son also: 
for thou has delivered us from the hand of Midian." 
It was a crisis in Gideon's history. " No ; I will 
not rule over you: neither shall my son rule over 
you. The Lord shall rule over you." 

The noblest victory which earth's annals can 
record is achieved, not amid the clash of conflict, 



JACOB'S SONS 213 

but when the battle is fought and the war has 
ceased, and the veteran, satisfied with the conscious- 
ness of duty done, gladdened by the sight of a 
happy people, disdains a recompense, refuses the 
prize put within his grasp and urged on his accept- 
ance. He is the hero who knows how to wear 
gracefully his well-earned laurels, and also how to 
keep those laurels fresh and green. The names of 
at least a few such men are household words. In 
the little galaxy of such superb brilliance there is 
no brighter star than Gideon. 

A greater victory is not recorded in the Bible. 
A nobler scene is not portrayed by gifted pen. In 
the humble home at Orphah in Manasseh's tribe, sur- 
rounded by admiring crowds, Gideon greets his 
people ; then, in view of a proffered scepter, crown, 
and throne, nobly triumphs when he proclaims that 
no earthly crown shall rest on his brow, nor on his 
son's. God is our King, and God alone. 



XV 

BENJAMIN 

''Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: 
In the morning he shall devour the prey, 
And at night he shall divide the spoil." 

— Gen. 49: 27. 

We come now to consider Jacob's blessing on 
his youngest and last mentioned son, Benjamin, 
Rachel's son and Joseph's full brother. In tracing 
the historic fulfillment of the patriarch's words we 
shall note the heir, the inheritance, the historic 
scenes, and the heroes of the tribe. 



I. — THE HEIR 

Benjamin is the heir. His symbol is a wolf. 
There is scarcely any need to dwell on the mean- 
ing of this symbol. From childhood's early days we 
have all been familiar with the traits of this raven- 
ous beast. We have all doubtless listened, till 
alarmed, not only to the stories of weird, spectral 
ghosts, but also to the equally thrilling tales of 
prowling wolves, till the name of wolf has come to 
suggest fierceness, rapacity, and cruelty. The pic- 

214 



JACOB'S SONS 215 

ture drawn by Jacob seems tO' be this : a rapacious 
wolf, having his lair in the wooded hills, ever and 
anon descending from his safe retreat and lurking- 
place, prowling amid the valleys, watching his op- 
portunity to fall upon his victim, tearing it cruelly 
and carrying his spoil to the fastness of the hills. 
Hence we have — Benjamin, of the fierce, relentless 
men of Israel. An echo of this note of Jacob's 
song is heard in Habakkuk's " fierceness of the 
evening wolves." Here are quaHties which may be 
evil; but which may also be controlled and dis- 
ciplined and rendered conducive to greatest good. 

First, then, we are to notice what pertains to 
Benjamin, the heir of Jacob's blessing. Perhaps 
there are few instances of one whose name is so 
familiar of whom there is so little known. Let 
us enumerate the facts that make up Benjamin's 
recorded life. 

He is the only son of Jacob born in the land of 
Canaan; like the Saviour, born in Bethlehem. 
Jacob with his household was journeying from Pa- 
dan Aram;, where all the other sons were born, 
toward Hebron, the patriarchal home where Isaac 
lived. The travelers stop at Bethlehem. Rachel 
gives birth to a son, and dies. With her last breath 
she calls the babe " Benoni " — ^" son of my sorrow." 
But this her last request was not granted. Jacob 
calls the boy Benjamin — " Son of my right hand." 
It is remarkable that the son of his right hand 



2i6 JACOBUS SONS 

should be the head of a tribe that was noted for 
left-handedness. 

The motherless boy seems to have grown into 
the affection of all the family. Unlike Joseph, he 
seems not to have elicited the hatred of his brethren. 
Other than the fact that he seems to have been gen- 
erally beloved, there is not the slightest trace in 
the Bible of his qualities as boy or man. 

At the time of Jacob's removal with his family 
to Egypt Benjamin was no lad. Those pictures 
mislead us which portray him then as a beardless 
boy. The Bible statements are very different. At 
the going down to Egypt Benjamin was the father 
of ten sons. His family at that time, strangely, is 
the largest of all the families of Jacob's sons. 

This is nearly all we know of Benjamin. How 
the symbol suited the man we have no means of 
knowing. Silent as Scripture is in reference to 
Benjamin, it is equally silent in reference to his 
tribe, until their settlement in Canaan. During all 
the years antedating that event there is not trace- 
able a feature, or a trait, or an incident specially 
connected with the tribe. The ravening wolf seems 
to have been asleep. His predicted powers, if he 
possessed them, seem to have been smitten with 
paralysis. Other tribes come into notice and 
achieve celebrity, but of Benjamin we hear nothing 
but the name in the roll-call of the tribes and in the 
routine of tribal appointments. Dry-shod the host 



JACOB'S SONS 217 

of Israel crossed the Jordan and camped in Canaan. 
In all the host there is no more obscure, less famous 
tribe than that of Benjamin. But the wolf is 
only sleeping. He will awake and arouse himself. 
Canaan once entered, with Benjamin all is changed. 
In place of long silence, no name is oftener heard 
than Benjamin's. The character of Benjamin's in- 
heritance seems to have something to do with the 
development of his hidden powers. Let us then 
trace his inheritance. 



II. ^THE INHERITANCE 

So unsuitable to the tribe seemed Benjamin's 
symbol through many long years of history, that it 
might almost have been forgotten. But now it 
shall be brought to mind again. 

First. — The symbol is suggested by certain names 
of localities within Benjamin's inheritance. The 
tribe marches to its home, where for many genera- 
tions it is to dwell. What is this wooded height 
close by which the men of Benjamin are passing? 
The hill of Shual, or " The Fox." What deep and 
wild ravine is this through which they march? 
Zeboim — " The Hyenas." As they survey their 
new, wild mountain home wolves and hyenas glare 
down upon them. Beasts of prey turn from their 
spoil and yield their mountain lairs to the tribe of 
whom Jacob long before had said words long for- 



2i8 JACOB'S SONS 

gotten, now remembered : " Benjamin shall ravin 
as the wolf." The literal wolves yield to the en- 
croachment of the tribe of which they are the 
symbol. 

Second. — Benjamin's inheritance lay between 
Judah and Ephraim, rival tribes. A quiet time he 
could not have. To live between two unfriendly 
neighbors, to listen to their complaints, hear their 
quarrels, heed their appeals, and arbitrate in all 
their difficulties, and keep on the best of terms with 
both, would be difficult indeed. But it would not 
be more difficult than for Benjamin to dwell in calm 
serenity between the fires of Judah and Ephraim. 
All through his history we find he scarcely knows 
whether to side with Judah or Ephraim. Ephraim 
was his full brother; but Judah's star was rising. 
Nothing is more irritating than to have one's home 
made the arena where others bring their conflicts 
and settle their difficulties or keep up their feuds. 
Benjamin was subjected to this cross-fire. Nat- 
urally enough he lost his temper and became as a 
ravening wolf. 

Third. — The prominent features of his land in- 
vite our notice. Benjamin occupied a central posi- 
tion in Canaan. It was a high, broad tableland 
two thousand feet above the shore line of the 
Mediterranean Sea. Its southern boundary line 
ran through Jerusalem. It was twelve miles wide 
north and south and twenty miles long east and 



JACOB'S SONS 219 

west. With the aid of a little imagination we may 
consider it as a huge fortress in the midst of the 
land. It was elevated — a stronghold, — sl key to all 
the land. History justifies us in the remark that 
the garrison that holds this great natural fortress 
of Benjamin, small though the garrison may be, 
shall have a potent influence in shaping the des- 
tinies of the nation. There are two features of this 
mountain fortress worthy of notice and remark: 
its mountain heights and its mountain passes; the 
narrow, precipitous defiles through which we may 
reach the tableland and the frowning heights which 
overlook and guard these mountain passes. There 
are two great passes — one on the east, rising from 
the Jordan valley; the other on the west, rising 
from Shephelah and Sharon's plains. At the high- 
est point of each there is a crowning pinnacle, as 
if nature had summoned her majestic powers to 
guard the important mountain pass. These two 
passes are renowned in history. 

in. THE HISTORIC SCENES 

I. The Eastern Pass. — Michmash. Jericho is 
at its base, Ai is at its height. Jericho has fallen, 
its walls have tumbled down. Israel holds the City 
of the Palms. Joshua sends his scouts to survey the 
heights. Jericho is in the lovely vale. Just back 
of it rises precipitately a mountain wall. Joshua 



220 JACOB'S SONS 

commands : " Go up and view the country." They 
ascend the pass and, emerging at its height, they 
stand before the crowning eminence called Ai. 
Unused to war, the scouts pronounce the capture of 
the city easy. Three thousand men advance. Up, 
up, they climb. But the men of Ai, secure in their 
mountain stronghold, and having perfect command 
of the pass, only waited for their victims. They 
waited till the aggressive Israelites put their hands 
on the city gate; then with all the advantage of 
position they fell on Joshua's three thousand men 
and smote them in their precipitate descent. Un- 
hurt, the men of Ai return to their stronghold and 
laugh at the folly of their foe. 

But let us see what strategy can do. Under 
cover of night, in the deep and shadowed ravine, 
thirty thousand men of Israel are cautiously and 
noiselessly climbing up that difficult path. Cling- 
ing closely to the mountain-side, hidden thus from 
view, they pass in the shadow of the city walls and 
go beyond. The morning dawns. The sentinel 
on the city walls has spied no foe. " All is well ! " 
Through the murky air of morning the glad sound 
echoes through the mountain pass. But see! In 
the broad light of day Israel comes again up the 
pass, in great strength, nearer and nearer to the city 
gate. The men of Ai are confident of the strength 
of their walls, — confident of their power to defeat 
the foe with whatever numbers he may come up the 



JACOB'S SONS 221 

narrow pass. The city gate is opened. The sol- 
diers sally forth to try the advancing foe. How- 
feeble the resistance ! They turn. They flee. The 
men of Ai with shout of victory pursue the routed 
host down the steep mountain-side. Down, down,, 
they go. 

Hark ! The crackling flames enfold and illumine 
yonder heights. In dense columns the clouds of 
smoke rise. Ai is on fire. The ambushed men of 
Israel possess the city. The men of Ai have been 
decoyed from their stronghold and have fallen into 
the snare prepared for them. The foe is routed, 
the pass is open. Israel enters the pass and, if with 
wearied feet, yet with glad hearts, they climb the 
steep and rugged way until they camp not far from 
Ai on the sacred height of Bethel. 

This is the spot where long ago Abraham and 
Lot had stood when they agreed to part for peace. 
Here Abraham heard the words divinely spoken: 
"All this land will I give thee." Here lonely 
Jacob slept high up on this mountain crest: 

" Though like the wanderer, 
Daylight all gone, 
Darkness be over me, 
My rest a stone." 

Alone in the darkness Jacob rested his weary head 
on one of these stones. Here in dreamy vision rose 
the ladder heavenward. 



222 JACOB'S SONS 

2. The Western Pass. — As on the east there 
are the pass, the frowning fortress Ai, and the 
sacred height Bethel, so on the west there are the 
narrow pass, the frowning fortress Bethhoron, and 
the sacred height Gibeon. If we were on the table- 
land we might see Gibeon towering aloft and over- 
looking westward the plain by the sea. Right at 
Gibeon' s base is Bethhoron, and from Bethhoron 
the great western pass descends towards the sea- 
board plain. Gibeon is second only to Hermon in 
height of the mountains of the land. From its 
summit there is spread out a charming scene. 
Eastward are seen the shining towers of Jerusalem. 
On Gibeon' s height Richard the Lion-hearted said : 
*' God forbid I should see Jerusalem unless I can 
rescue it from its enemies." 

We may here trace the great battle of Bethhoron. 
Israel is camped at Gilgal. An embassy is an- 
nounced — a communication from the Gibeonites, 
between whom and Israel an unholy alliance had 
been made. This alliance has provoked the enmity 
of all the Canaanites. The kings of Jerusalem, 
Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, Eglon, have marshaled 
their hosts and are camped before Gibeon on the 
tableland. " Come up to us and save us and help 
us; for all the kings are gathered against us." 
Celerity of movement is often the secret of success. 
Once it had taken Joshua three days to march from 
Gilgal to Gibeon. It is nightfall now. They wait 



JACOB'S SONS 223 

not for the morning light. In the darkness they 
ascend the eastern pass and march all night long. 
When the morning dawns Joshua and his men con- 
front the allied kings. The battle opens. It is 
fiercely fought. Victory attends the brave though 
weary men of Israel. The kings are put to flight 
with all their host. They flee down the western 
pass, in utter confusion — Israel in pursuit. The 
rout is complete. But the fruit of victory must not 
be lost. 

The day is waning. Yonder sun is hastening 
toward the western skies. The green valley of 
Aijalon is waiting to welcome the fleeing hosts and 
cover them with the darkness of approaching night. 
Israel's chieftain is standing on an elevated spot in 
sight of all the host. See him. Oh, for a few 
hours more of light! Joshua lifts his hands to 
heaven, looks back to the heights of Gibeon still 
gilded by the lingering rays, looks forward to 
Aijalon, where the moon begins to shed her sil- 
very light, and exclaims : " Sun, stand thou still on 
Gibeon; thou Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon." 
The Ammonites were all subdued. Five captive, 
kings crowned the honors of the day. 

On Gibeon's height long rested the Tabernacle of 
the Lord. Even when David removed the old 
tabernacle to Jerusalem, the altar of burnt offerings 
remained, at Gibeon. 

Such was the natural fortification of which 



224 JACOB'S SONS 

Benjamin found himself possessed in the allotment 
of Canaan. An impregnable stronghold; the gar- 
rison — Benjamin. Here he might safely dwell. 
Hence he might descend as a prowling wolf, hither 
retreat to divide the spoil. The position gave to 
little Benjamin great prominence in the history of 
the land and nation. From the obscure and un- 
known tribe he rises to great fame. But, as often 
happens, that which was his glory proves well-nigh 
to become his ruin. 

A fearful calamity befalls the tribe. In the sad 
story to which we turn we cannot but admire Ben- 
jamin's valor in his ruin, yet must lament that he 
should espouse a cause so unholy as that which 
wrested from him his great inheritance and almost 
blotted out his name from the earth. 

A civil war is waged; Israel against Israel; a 
host against a handful. A crime has been commit- 
ted on the heights of Benjamin. The Benjamites 
rally around the criminal, to defend him against 
the combined hosts of Israel. A bad cause it is, but 
certainly there was in it a spirit and valor worthy 
of a nobler cause. Four hundred thousand war- 
riors besiege the stronghold Gibeah, where Ben- 
jamin is intrenched. Benjamin has twenty-six 
thousand men. Among them are seven hundred 
left-handed men tha,t could sling a stone to a hair- 
breadth. Benjamin sallies forth, drives back the 
host and leaves twenty-two thousand men of Israel 



JACOB'S SONS 225 

dead on the field. The gallant little band return 
to their fortress and sleep upon their arms. 

A sad time in Israel's camp when they ask: 
*' Shall I go up again to battle against the children 
of Benjamin my brother? " The oracle said : Go. 
They renew the attack, are driven back, leaving 
eighteen thousand Israelites dead on the field. 

A solemn fast is kept. On the morrow the attack 
is renewed, but in a different way. Benjamin in 
the heaven-built fort, and with the heaven-given 
valor, could forever defy the host of Israel. But he 
is caught in a snare. He forgot the story of the 
capture of the city Ai. An ambush is laid in the 
rear of Gibeah. The host march up and then re- 
turn. Their flight was now a feint. Benjamin's 
eager men, pursuing, look back to see their fortress 
held by Israel and their cause now lost. 

They fled. Smitten, slaughtered, rallying only 
to be destroyed, at last the brave little remnant de- 
termined yet tO' conquer or to die. Six hundred 
sought refuge in the rock Rimmon in the wilder- 
less. How are the mighty fallen! Six hundred 
men alone are left of the tribe of Benjamin. 

The tribe rallied, but never recovered from this 
terrific blow. Well might one of its heroes long 
afterwards say : " Am I not a Benjamite — the 
smallest tribe of Israel?" ''Benjamin shall ravin 
as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey; 
at evening he shall divide the spoil." Unconquer- 



226 JACOB'S SONS 

able tribe! Though it could never rally from its 
fearful decimation, so much the more glory that 
from its thinned ranks and reduced numbers came 
so many of Israel's greatest heroes. To this tribe 
Israel often looked for leaders, and never looked in 
vain. For its size there was in it more fire, more 
genius, more heroismi, more glory, more greatness, 
than in any other tribe of Israel. 



IV. THE HEROES 

We can only mention a few of the men that shed 
a luster on their tribe. 

I. Ehud. — Moab had defeated Israel. The 
Moabite king had built himself an elegant summer 
residence in the city of palm trees on the ruins of 
Jericho. There were his gardens and vines and 
walks and lattice and refreshing springs. A man 
alone walks up with a package in his hands. He 
asks to see the king, has a private message for 
the king — a present and a message. Ushered into 
the audience room, he lays the gift at King Eglon's 
feet. *' I have a message for thee, O King." The 
servants are ordered out. The door is shut. Eglon 
and the messenger are alone. The stranger, left- 
handed as he was, drew his dagger and plunged it 
into Eglon, and left it in his body. He quickly 
went out, locked the door, and departed. Ere the 
king's household learned the fact the stranger was 



JACOB'S SONS 227 

sounding the trumpet of war on the heights of Ai. 
Victory crowned his exploit. Who is this stranger ? 
Ehud, second judge of Israel, a hero of Benjamin's 
little tribe, perhaps himself one of the remnant six 
hundred. 

2. Saul of Gibeah. — A King! The people ask 
of God a king. " Give us a king like the nations 
around us." Samuel assembled them at Mizpah to 
make their choice and crown their king. Whether 
by lot, or by Urim and Thummim, God would 
regulate their choice. The tribes are called. Shall 
the king come from Judah ? No. One by one they are 
called, till Benjamin is taken. The decimated tribe 
of Benjamin shall furnish Israel's king. The fam- 
ily of Matri is taken, the house of Kish; and then 
on Saul the choice falls. But Saul is not there. 
Where is he? The oracle tells. They find him 
hiding under the baggage of the camp. He does 
not wish the office. He dreaded it. " Am I not of 
Benjamin, the smallest tribe?" There he stands 
towering head and shoulders above all the others. 
The people shout: ''God save the king!" With 
all his faults, faults peculiar to a Benjamite, fierce, 
independent, rash, uncontrollable, Saul was a noble, 
heroic man. A man of mystery! Yet truly the 
symbol is fulfilled in him : a ravening wolf, devour- 
ing the prey, and dividing the spoil. Little Ben- 
jamin could never forget he furnished Israel's first 
king. 



228 JACOB'S SONS 

3. Mordecai. — Haman parades the streets of 
Shushan. By royal command the people bow in 
reverence at his approach. Universal adulation is 
paid to the satellite of the king. No; one man 
stands erect. Humble himself? Not he. Proud, 
scornful, haughty, he stands erect. One thousand 
mandates from the king cannot make him bend the 
knee then and there. No; he would sooner die. 
Who is he? Mordecai the Jew, of the unconquer- 
able tribe of Benjamin. 

4. Esther. — The brilliant queen of Ahasuerus 
attires herself with unusual care; puts on her most 
attractive robes; adorns her natural and exquisite 
beauty. She leaves the haremi ; stands at the king's 
door uncalled, an applicant for admission. Hear 
her firm resolve, uttered with all the spirit of her 
race, a people who would sooner die than falter : 
*' If I perish, I perish ; but I will go." It is Esther, 
the brightest heroine of Benjamin's heroic tribe. 

5. Saul of Tarsus. — Once more, and only once, 
the light flares up ere it goes out into deep dark- 
ness. The glories of the tribe culminate in its last 
and greatest and noblest hero. The royal name 
once more appears. " Saul, who is also called 
Paul," has left the proud record in which he takes 
so great delight : "Of the stock of Israel, of the 
tribe of Benjamin." 

Breathing out threatening and slaughter, as a 
wolf, Saul of Tarsus is consenting to Stephen's 



JACOB'S SONS 229 

death. Armied with high commission " to devour 
the prey and divide the spoil," he rides toward 
Damascus to crush out the Gospel life. Then, trans- 
formed by divine grace, in him are seen these fierce 
qualities, not destroyed, but disciplined, directed, 
controlled. With the heroic spirit of his tribe he 
can say : " Bonds and afflictions await me : none 
of these things move me: neither count I myself 
dear to myself, so that I might finish my course 
with joy." Illustrious hero of illustrious tribe! 
Well may the roll of Benjamin, in which are found 
the honored names of judge, warrior, king, and 
queen, conclude with him who claimed no regal 
title here, but delighted to subscribe himself " Paul, 
a servant of Jesus Christ." 



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